Arbitary Numerical Goals

[Peter Walker <walker@wawa.demon.co.uk>]

Dick Van Putten asks what is wrong with KPIs.

It is easy to confuse "Arbitary Numerical Goals" with "Facts of Life"
because they look similar.  It is their purpose and use which is
different.

A Fact of Life is a goal which needs to be achieved for the business.
It should provide a focus for planning and identifying resources
needed to achieve it, and it should be a unifying force providing a
common purpose for people to work together for the common good.

An Arbitary Numerical Goal is set to measure and reward people.  The
level of the goal is set to "motivate" the individual and will be
appropriate to the grade of the individual and what is reasonable to
expect rather directly to the needs of the business.  It can be
divisive because it it encourages individual rather than team
achievement.  If it is to be used to measure performance then by
definition individuals can be allowed to fail leaving the target
unmet.

Regards,

Peter B Walker