Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs, 3rd Edition

Chapter 4Revitalizing Performance

Overview

Performance management has been much misunderstood, misused, and abused, thereby preventing too many organizations from reaching their potential. Before performance measures can work, an organization needs to be conversant with the foundation stones and facets of performance management. This chapter explores the foundation stones that need to be in place to revitalize performance and the various facets of performance management that need to be mastered. It goes on to answer the question “What is more important, staff aligning themselves to their organization’s critical success factors (CSFs) or having the right performance measures?”

An accredited coach pointed out to me recently that I had not made it clear enough as to why the senior management team should be interested in performance measures.

Winning KPIs are part of the bigger picture to succeeding with performance management. I have developed a model to help organizations see where KPIs fit within the larger picture of revitalizing performance management, see Exhibit 4.1. It is my hope that this model will help identify why organizations are failing to meet their potential and why many performance-management initiatives, like the balanced scorecard, fail.

Exhibit 4.1 Revitalizing Our Performance Management Model

I believe that performance management has been much misunderstood, ...