In the ever-changing business world, which is consistently focused on continuous improvement, data is critical.  Poor information or unfocused details can make business decisions and goal setting difficult.  Justification of spending or implementation of new lines or products must be supported by hard data.  Having an opinion and stating your case is difficult without cold, hard facts and corresponding numbers.  Most successful organizations do not make business decisions just because someone told them to do something.  To support business trends and develop goals, it's critical to understand where you are today in order to create the road map for tomorrow.  How do you do this?  Business metrics.

According to About.com, the definition of a business metric is "a business unit of measure to gauge a company's performance and have a standard to improve."  Metrics can be as simple as ROI (return on investment) or market share, or it can be as complex as an organization's developed key performance measurables. Metrics aren't new, and many industries are tracking performance metrics-service, manufacturing, healthcare, etc.

In this article, we're going to discuss business metrics.  Next month, we're going to show how you can apply metrics to your recruiting efforts in order to improve effectiveness.  Why should you track metrics and how should you do it?

Regardless of whether you have an internal customer or an external customer, the goal is to keep them happy and meet their expectations.  What is important to them?  (How quickly they receive your product-100% on time delivery.  Quality-100% error-free product.)  Find out, measure where you are today, and communicate your continued improvement to them on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis . . .however often they request the information.  Being able to show improvement and meet their goals will assist in a long-term business relationship. 
Metrics are power and real-time data.  If they're calculated correctly and communicated, they can be a persuasive tool in attaining your organization's business goals.  The list above represents a good guideline for developing metrics and measurables for improvement.  In our next issue, we'll discuss how to use metrics and measurables during the recruitment process.  For example, what should you track?  And how do you analyze the results? 
 
(As always, we value your input regarding the content for our newsletter.  If you have any ideas or suggestions for future topics, be sure to contact melinda@thepittmangroup.com We look forward to hearing from you.)