KPI’s in the workplace can sometimes feel very professional, and for many businesses, when they want to enhance performance it is the first tool they reach for, mostly because it is such a common concept in employment and performance management. 

But, whilst common, I would say it's not always the best option and its success rests on many aligning factors inside your workplace. 

I have been both managed and I have managed people under a KPI system, so I have experience. 

In 2019 I was shifted into a branch of a business that had been doing extremely poorly performance wise. I was given a simple task (not so simple), “you have 13 weeks, turn it around”.

On arrival, the team were exhausted and had been feeling as though they were the only ones doing any work. The structure of the KPI’s on this team were both weighted individually and as a team but the managers KPI’s were simply team and business growth orientated. It seemed like a fine design in principle, but it meant the team had been left feeling like they were the only ones doing any work towards the end goal but were being repeatedly told of their poor performance by someone who was not also trying to contribute to the overall goal on a day to day basis.

Secondly, the constant performance meetings had lost their importance. The team had become used to poor performance, some weeks it wasn't for their lack of trying, some weeks it was a reflection of the effort they put in but, they grew used to being told they were constantly never good enough and they not-so-suddenly stopped caring. 

Thirdly, the leaders attitude mattered. They had also become desensitized to the constant poor performance and no amount of berating from upper management was going to re-engage them. The problem was, this attitude then flowed out to the team. The manager had checked out, so why should the team try? This is extremely common regardless of the Performance Management system employed. The manager was trying to escape their own daily cortisol spike by appearing to be working hard, whilst not actually achieving anything. No shame, this is an awful system to spend 8 hours a day in and it will bring these sorts of escapism behaviours to the surface out of survival.

In 13 weeks, as a career highlight, I took that branch from one of the most poorly performing branches in the state to almost third highest performing in the state and, it took less than 13 weeks, by the end, we were coasting along.

Now- one half was about how I showed up. I COMPLETELY changed how everything operated in that business and the instant flow-on effect was felt within the team.

However, understanding the pitfalls of the KPI system we were working under also assisted in the success. 

I took some significant lessons from this time in my career: 

1. KPI systems can be degrading and demeaning.
2. This is where it becomes complex, because on extrinsically motivated staff members, the KPI system can be effective, but you would be better at my job than me if you could hire a whole team of people who were extrinsic motivators. 
3. The intrinsic motivators in the team, who are satisfied by their own internal success are likely already performing at their capacity or, close to. And being told that that is not good enough over and over again wears at them until they resolve to “why bother”. 
4. The leader at the top of the chain must be the hardest working in the team.
5. And I don’t mean they need to do all the paperwork or faff about with meetings, they need to be “in the bull pen getting their ass handed to them on a daily basis” as Brene Brown would say. They need to be visually contributing to the common goal, not just holding the team accountable to it. The wrong person at the head of this chain will make all the difference to the success of the KPI system. 
6. It is a “give all” system and encourages potentially unscrupulous behaviour.
7. People sometimes get desperate, or they love the taste of success so much that they can temporarily abandon their morals in search of the highs of achievement. This is human nature, and it is more a flaw of the Performance Management system then it is a character flaw of the staff member (although, we hope to weed that out early too). 
8. The system design can muddy the waters in ethically thick industries. And by this I mean, KPI’s have no place in healthcare or social situations where human care and help is the primary aim of the business. Unless you are going to find the perfect HR Manager who understands the goals and the perils of this system and is going to micromanage it within an inch of its life every single day, combining KPI’s and human care will almost never work. UNLESS - the KPI surrounds a compliance target, THAT is my only caveat to the situation. 

Now it turns out, on this topic I have quite a lot to say, but it's because this is a very old way of managing people and personally, it doesn't resonate with me however, I recognise that some businesses employ this measurement as an easy way to numerically manage their performance and sometimes, if that is what we have to work with, that is what we have to work with.

If you are thinking about employing KPI’s into your business OR your business currently does work under a KPI structure, please consider reviewing it. I am not saying you are wrong, I am saying that it’s not the only lever on the metaphorical dashboard.

If you want to chat about whether KPI’s are something that would be well suited to your business please reach out. Talking it out about its suitability before engaging it may save you many sleepless nights (and probably save you thousands of dollars).

Amanda