By Bernie Smith, Principal consultant

It’s rare to get through a week without the media proclaiming that the health service/education/central government has gone “target mad” and is destroying that service.

This may seem far removed from measures in your business, but it’s worth thinking about why people would feel so passionate and angry about something which was clearly intended to improve performance.

Why do people get so angry? Some of the things that can cause this include:

Measures and targets with unexpected negative consequences
For example increased numbers of patients treated leading to a financial shortfall, even if the cost per patient is constant or lower, as the organisation works on a fixed budget.

Measures which don’t really reflect what is important
The school league tables provoked strong reaction when they were introduced as many people felt that the results produced were more a reflection of the quality of the pupils admitted, rather than a reflection on the impact of the school.

Measures which are poorly explained or understood.
Sometimes there are quite sensible and valid reasons for measuring things, but the measure is misunderstood. Efficiency is a good example. Many people take this to be a measure of effort, and the implementation of this measure brought one government to the brink of strike. But done well, efficiency shines a light on the things which affect cost, customer service and responsiveness.

So if you hear grumbling about measures and KPIs in your organisation, it is well worth asking yourself the following questions:

• Do our KPIs work together, or are some compromised in an attempt to improve others?
• Do our KPIs really reflect the things that we are trying to influence and control, or are they missing part of the picture
• How well are our KPIs understood within our organisation. Do people really know why they are used and how they are calculated?