Three Lead Metrics Every Leader Should Consider

Chances are that you already know about the difference between ‘lead’ and ‘lag’ measures/indicators.  Just in case, lag indicators are those that are best described as outcomes, like sales revenue and profit.  The performance that led to the number has already happened.  Lead indicators, on the other hand, are those which are most likely to predict an outcome like sales revenue, and probably more influential in real-time.  For example, a leading indicator of sales revenue in B2B companies is the number of qualified prospects a sales person will have spoken with about their current challenges.  Lead determines lag.

As we have been building our own internal Lead/Lag metric platform (we call it My Employee Life and it is now available for our customers too), it has kickstarted a number of interesting discussions about what we should be measuring, and what we should be recommending to our customers to measure.  Everyone wants to improve financial performance, but what are the lead metrics with the highest leverage that will have the biggest influence in the shortest time?

Here are three that we are now tracking which we believe is leading directly to better performance outcomes:

% of team members with clear goals

This is one thing that My Employee Life has really helped us with.  We have a process not only to ensure people have goals, but they are clear.  People who have goals, and are clear about them, are more likely to achieve them.

% of team members who have the skill and will to do their job.

There is nothing more frustrating for a person (or the team they are in) to not have the skills and knowledge to do their job properly, or not have the desire to do it.  Not only is this a consideration for hiring new team members, it is also a consideration for ongoing training and development.  People who can do their job properly, and have the desire to do it to the standard required, are more likely to do it well, which actually improves the experience for everyone around them.

% of team members doing work logs

This is another thing that My Employee Life helps us to do really well.  It might seem like a strange statistic, but we have found the more people who are reflecting on their own performance each week in terms of what went well and what needs to happen next week, the better off we are.  This 10 minute per week ‘work log’ saves us a lot of time downstream and helps give everyone a sense of personal accountability.  This in turn improves the experience of everyone around them.

So, before you go and implement an expensive performance management system, or embark on a time-consuming data collection program, it’s worth remembering that the more measures and metrics that people have, the more confusing things can become.  By focusing on a few wildly important goals, and the right lead measures, it is possible to improve performance without anyone having to work harder.  They will be working smarter, and this has to be good for everyone.

If you are interested in what My Employee Life can do for your workplace, check out http://my.employeelife.com.

About the Author

Jason Buchanan

Jason is the General Manager – Insights & Innovation at Optimum Consulting. Prior to Optimum, he served as Managing Director Asia Pacific for a large multi-national research organisation, and was responsible for guiding the region through a period of significant change and growth. Prior to this, he was with an internet start-up company based out of the UK, and was trusted by the company’s Board of Directors to spearhead the company’s growth into the Asia-Pacific region.

Diversity In The Workplace: More Than Just Meeting A Quota

Diversity in the workplace is becoming a more and more prominent issue in today’s society with organisations having ‘quotas’ in terms of male to female ratios to achieve gender balance. I was having a conversation with a group of male and female friends about this recently and it turned into a somewhat lively discussion about how you shouldn’t just hire females to meet a quota but how you should hire the best person for the job based on qualifications and experience. I 100% agree with that, the best person for the job should get the job not just because of a tick box exercise.

However, the fact remains that diversity in the workplace, not just gender but also people from different cultures, backgrounds, personalities and viewpoints can be extremely beneficial to an organisation for a lot more than just if they are perceived as inclusive or not. Being open to diversity gives you access to a much larger range of talent rather than just the talent that belongs to a particular gender, ethnicity or age bracket. It provides insight into the requirements and motivations of all and even more of your client/customer base rather than just a small part of it.

Businesses are becoming more global. Even within a single country, the opportunity to provide goods and services to diverse ethnic groups is very tangible. There are a multitude of benefits as to why you should have a diverse workforce and here are the top 4 benefits:

More Talent, Skills and Experience

What employer wouldn’t want a more skilled, talented and experienced team? If you hire a variety of employees from various backgrounds etc. you will get a broader range of skillsets and experience which will lead to your employees learning more from each other. It will created a very well-rounded team who can probably handle a lot more than if you hire a carbon copy of the same person.

Access to a Wider Range of Talent

There are brand new positions constantly being created and I can tell you firsthand that there are numerous roles out there which I recruit for that are extremely difficult to fill. However, if diversity was prioritized, you would have access to a much larger pool of candidates which will then result in you finding an outstanding candidate. Diversity also has the added benefit of making your business look attractive to potential customers and employees. When I contact candidates about certain roles, I have so many of them ask me “how culturally diverse is the team?” or  “what kind of people is the team made up of?”.

Learning Experiences

One of the best ways to improve the overall performance of your team is to offer them learning experiences. One of the simplest ways to do this is to recruit and build a diverse team. If your team is diverse, it will be made up of people of different genders, ages, backgrounds and cultures. Everyone on the team will bring with them their own unique experiences to the business that will deviate from the ‘norm’. Last year, Optimum hired someone from the Czech Republic who only learnt English at university but has brought a whole world of new experiences to the team. Alongside his witty and warm personality, he also organised the office to go to a Czech Club to experience what it’s like in his home country. This gives the whole team a chance to see things from a different perspective or consider things that they normally wouldn’t. It gives the team a chance to really learn from each other and integrate this knowledge into the team dynamic.

More Effective Problem Solving and Better Decision Making

Inefficient problem solving can lead to delays in workflow and loss of revenue. Why does this occur? Lack of variety in the workplace. With a non—diverse team, employees only have access to a limited range of experiences and viewpoints. However, if you have a diverse team, employees have access to a wider range of experiences and viewpoints. The team can draw from that knowledge and experiences to create diverse solutions in a shorter time period. When you have more ideas and solutions, the problem-solving process runs much smoother and faster. This in turn, can lead to greater profits. By creating a diverse team you will have more cultural insight. These insights can open many doors for your business that can put you above your competitors. Such as hiring the best talent; expanding into new and unique markets; appealing to new customers. While hiring to meet a quota may not be the right approach, hiring with diversity in mind is always a strong approach to bringing in new talent to your business.

About the Author

Georgia Narayan

Georgia is a Consultant at Optimum Consulting. A degree qualified and motivated professional with experience in stakeholder engagement and consulting. She has worked within the government and commercial sector. She has also travelled extensively and has worked with a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures.

Performance At Work: Keep it simple.

Einstein was once quoted as saying that ‘an idea should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler’. Sounds like pretty good advice to us.

I have to admit, I originally set out to write this article about ways to improve performance management processes, afterall most people find the concept of performance management to be frustrating in many ways. However as you will soon discover, this post is now mostly about ways to simplify the idea of performing on the job without making things too complicated. There is already plenty of things that are too complicated.

Keeping it simple

If you are an employee, your performance is likely to be managed in some way. Some performance management solutions and approaches, whilst being moderately effective, add significant amounts of complexity to an already complicated world. Who really wants to spend time doing ‘reviews’ when they are proven to not be all that effective in driving future performance? Not me.

The trick is to become more proactive about your own performance. Rather than someone managing your performance, commit to yourself that you will be the one setting the tone. Manage your own performance to standards higher than those expected from your supervisor/boss. Clever bosses will then figure out that you are making their life easier, and their job simply becomes to remove any blocks in your way so you can keep going. You are making those around you look good, which in turn makes you stand out. People love working with and hiring people who make them look good.

In other words, rather than viewing performance as something that needs to be reviewed, we consider it to be something that needs guiding in real-time. The past is not something that can be changed, but the present certainly can be.

Making adjustments in real-time

Why do some people perform well at work and others not?

Scratch the surface and you will start to see how difficult this question is to answer. Is it the fault of the employee (a problem of skill or will), or the fault of the employer (a problem of process, skill or will)?

Like many people, you will probably reach the conclusion that it’s a bit of both. If you take control of your own performance, you are going to be making things easier for those around you, who in turn will give you more of the time and resources you need to do an even better job.

Highlight what you need help with now.

We often hear stories about people who were disappointed that their supervisor/boss didn’t give them the help they needed. But when asked ‘did you actually tell your boss you needed help’, they say no. Very few of us have the ability to read minds properly, and so this is another simple piece of performance advice. Rather than waiting for someone to give you the help you need, make sure you let the appropriate people know what you need.

Apart from these simple tips, if performing at work is important to you remember to check out our Career Challenge here.

About the Author

Jason Buchanan

Jason is the General Manager of Fllair and part of the leadership team of Optimum Consulting Group.

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