What’s gets measured gets managed

In the business world, it can seem that every thing gets measured. Customer service times, speed of response, employee performance, etc. However, in the not for profit sector it’s argued that “what we do” is beyond measurement. However, a few measurements in the Neary case case would have identified a serious problem at a much earlier stage with action taken to manage the problem of unnecessary surgical operation.


I believe a balance between the two extremes is important, not just for organisations but for individuals.
For example, a client was feeling guilty because she was never available for additional work hours, due to other commitments. We suggested she look at how she was performing on her section’s customer service targets. Turns out she was the top performer in her area. One guilt issue that was quickly solved!

Any one interested in their career and work should constantly measure how they are performing. In Quo Vadis Solutions we do this by either a short written survey or verbal review after a number of sessions. So just because we cannot quantify “hard” results we can measure client satisfaction.
You should always be aware of what the key measurements for your area of work are. For example, you’re unlikely to get too much credit for dealing with your customer complaints effectively, if the key performance measure is zero customer complaints.

In the not for profit world, useful measurements are more difficult to establish.
Teachers have complained long and hard about school league tables as an ineffective measure of performance. They have a point, but in the absence of other information, people are going to use school league tables.
Research has indicated the relationship between teacher and pupil is key to good learning outcomes. It’s now possible to objectively assess this even with younger pupils by getting the children to draw a picture of themselves and the teacher. See BPS Blog for more details. So this measurement could provide useful information for teachers and parents.

A friend gave up volunteer work with a drug rehab centre. The centre officially opened at 9:30. Often however it never actually opened until around 9:45, with queues of marginalised people waiting outside. He felt this was very disrespectful and undermined the centre’s ethos of supporting their clients. The centre lost a talented volunteer, because they did not measure or manage the times the centre actually opened, and were not receptive to feedback on this issue.

Headway, one of my favourite charities, works with people with acquired brain injuries (Road traffic accidents, stroke etc). Some of their clients have very limited abilities, with speech mumbled and perhaps paralysis from the neck down. Difficult to establish measurements in these cases. What Headway do however, is painstakingly agree with every client a personal written goal plan. This identifies what the client wants to achieve. It can be as small as learning to shave again, or bigger, perhaps learning how to use a computer. The service provided is then measured against this plan and updated as necessary. The key measurement here is feedback from the client, which drives the management of the service provided.

Can there be an over emphasis on measurements?
Definitely, yes, just look at the , Inspector Gadget blog for an example of too much focus on one measurement. The accountancy world has also been guilty of too much focus on a single profit figure, with the psychometrics people focusing on the conscientiousness factor as a key indicator of success in matching people to jobs. This assumes high conscientiousness means people will perform well, but ignores how interested or motivated they may be in the particular job. All factors which also impact job performance.

So, if you’re serious about managing your career, make sure you’re measuring a number of different angles on your work performance such as customers, cost, service, people relationships, quality, job satisfaction, etc, as this will enable you to develop your own self awareness and thus career happiness.



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