5 Business Management Metrics You Should Know

With any business, it’s important to establish clearly defined management metrics. Good metrics give you a solid idea of how your employees are performing, how much work is actually being done, and the overall health of the company.

But not all metrics are right for all companies. A software firm is going to want to measure different things than a catering company. Most companies, no matter what they produce or serve though, measure output.

There are other management metrics, though, that business owners and managers should be aware of that can help increase productivity, worker satisfaction, output, and profits. Some of these five management metrics are long accepted in the business world and others are relatively new.

1) Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure the overall health of the company, but what you choose to measure to determine this is entirely determined by what kind of company you have.

Ideally there should be several things that are being measured, such as: the percentage of return customers, the percentage of customer service calls answered in the first minute, the ratio between items sold and returned, customer satisfaction, among others. This list can go on and on. You need to determine what is important for you and your company.

2) Flow State Percentage

This is a relatively novel metric that is increasingly popular for companies that require heavy concentration from its employees, like computer programming, advertising, or other industries that prosper from their employees’ brainpower.

This metric measures how long employees spend at their workplace in uninterrupted concentration. It is ideal for them to spend 30-50 percent of the day concentrating, but meetings, phone calls, emails, and other distractions can keep employees from getting nowhere close to that number. Knowing how your office can improve concentration time will improve productivity.

3) Meeting Promoter Score

This is another non-traditional metric, but one most businesses should consider, especially if your employees are calling lots of unproductive meetings. They cost time and money. At the end of each meeting participants rate its effectiveness on a scale of one to ten with a suggestion on how it could have been more productive. Compiling these results over time will give you a good idea what changes need to be made.

4) Positive Feedback Ratio

While it’s great to hear positive feedback from customers, do your employees hear it from you or other members of the management team? Research has found that the best relationships exhibit five positive interactions to every negative one.

It is important to keep that 5:1 ratio in the workplace if you want your employees to feel appreciated and, in turn, to be more productive. This is a harder one to measure, but making sure you and your team doles out positive feedback can make all the difference.

5) Customer Demographic Analysis

All the measuring of internal operations won’t mean much if you don’t understand who your customers are and why they are choosing you or, conversely, why they are choosing your competitor. Compiling as much information about your customers as possible will help you to continue what is working and highlight areas that need attention.

References:

KPIs - The Metrics That Drive Performance Management

Five New Management Metrics You Need to Know

Managing by Metrics