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7 Deadly Sins of Performance Measurement - Narcissism and Laziness
Last month, we looked at Vanity, the first of the ‘deadly sins’ identified in Michael Hammer’s article: ‘The 7 Deadly Sins of Performance Measurement (and How to Avoid Them)’. This month, we explore two more sins: Narcissism and Laziness.
Inward-looking
Narcissism involves looking at things from your organisation’s point of view rather than the customer’s. Hammer gives the example of a retailer that measured its distribution organisation based on whether the goods in the stores matched the stock-on-hand levels specified in the merchandising plan. However, this gave a much higher availability than if the stock was measured according to what the customers actually wanted to buy.
He goes on to say that many companies measure the performance of order
fulfilment in terms of whether the shipment left the dock on the scheduled date. However, customers aren’t interested in this – they care about when they receive the shipment, not when it leaves the dock.
Taking the easy route
Laziness is similar to narcissism, in that it’s all about measuring what is easy, rather than what matters to customers. This includes the tendency to measure things in a certain way because it’s always been done in that way - rather than taking the time and energy to challenge the status quo.
Hammer cites the example of a semiconductor maker that measures many aspects of its order processing operation, but not the issue that’s critical to the customer - the time taken from receiving the order to the time of confirmation by the company and the provision of a delivery date. The company just never thought (or bothered) to ask customers what was really important to them.
Insight implications
An Insight team needs to ensure that its organisation’s metrics include measures that are relevant to the customer. Because of this, there is a trend towards looking at the whole customer experience, and identifying the moments of truth that matter to them. It’s vital that you really listen to customers and let them tell you what they think is important, rather than making assumptions from an inevitably blinkered point of view.
For instance, your company may focus on speed and efficiency. However, your customers might be more interested in the way they are treated. For example, your call centre might focus on keeping calls as brief as possible, to meet call handling targets, rather than listening to the customers and solving their problems. Automated or call handling systems and those outsourced abroad can also cause frustration, because they have been developed as a way of cost saving, rather than looking at the bigger picture.
It’s also important that you make sure that your organisation listens to the customer feedback and provides a joined-up service that meets their needs. You need to share any feedback throughout your company at all levels if you want to make a difference.
So, don’t neglect your customer – ultimately, focusing on their needs will be in your own company’s interest.
