Exceeders Blog, Strategy and Performance, SimpleStrata | 2 min read
In a previous post on the 3 Myths About Performance Management, we discussed the Symmetry Myth, where performance specialists tend to measure everything equally because they see every single measure to be very important. Therefore, they evaluate all steps with the same effect on the employee’s performance score. In other words, all performance measures are given equal weights.
To better understand why this is wrong and how it should be fixed, let’s look at the below example of the evaluation of a student’s achievement on a particular subject. The assessment could be based on the below measures (simplified for explanation)
Considering that the full mark is out of 100, and the passing mark is 60%, we’ve generated a score for this student in 2 ways.
Scenario 1: All measures are equally important
In this scenario, the total weight of the subject (100) is divided equally on the four criteria. So, each measure gets a load of 25.
Scenario 2: Some measures are more important than others
In this scenario, the total weight of the subject (100) is divided unequally on the measures, based on their importance, where more essential measures get higher pressures, and less critical measures gain less weight.
To be able to compare the results, we kept the target and actual values the same in both scenarios.
Now, have a look at the total score. Where do you think it was calculated in a more appropriate way? If your answer was “Scenario 2”, you are right.
If you didn’t notice the issue yet, let’s have a closer look. In scenario 1, although the student didn’t pass in the first measure (which is usually the most essential evaluation factor in the educational sector: written tests), he still has passed in the subject, with a reasonable rate (78%). What helped him pass are his scores in the other measures, which are certainly not as important as the first one.
In the other scenario, however, when the distribution of weights was made uneven, to reflect their importance, the result became more realistic. The high scores on the other measures didn’t help the student pass, because the core of evaluation in this matter hasn’t been well-achieved.
As simple as it might look, this mistake sometimes occurs when defining employees’ performance measures. While we work with performance teams and managers in setting up their performance systems, we usually ask to reduce the number of measures and categorize them based on importance to set up more accurate scoring schema within their operations. The feedback we typically get is:
If your answer is similar to one of the first 3, I will give it a final try by referring you back to the article 3 Myths About Performance Management, hoping that you would change your mind. Or else, I would advise you to stop reading this article now, because the remainder of the text will help you define your measures’ types and weights based on their importance and contribution to the overall required performance. Along the way, you will have to sacrifice some less necessary measures, for the sake of accuracy and focus on the more important ones.
If you decided to continue reading, let’s find together how you can set up your scoring system in the most effective way, by following the below step-by-step guide.
The Goal Achievement Journey
Think about a goal you want to achieve, and then, think about the steps you will follow to achieve that goal. Whether it’s a simple or a complex goal, we usually move in states to reach the final goal we aim at.
That’s why you can think of your primary goal as the final destination on a journey. All other goals you cross while traveling towards your ultimate goal are just temporary stops. They are intermediate goals. Without passing by them, you cannot reach your final goal. However, they are not as crucial as your ultimate goal because they don’t indicate the end of the journey.
The same applies in the case of performance measures. Your most important measure is your final goal. If you don’t reach there, you didn’t win, even if you have made many other achievements along the way (the stops).
Part 2 of this post will discuss the following:
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Originally published Jan 14, 2019 2:12:35 PM, updated July 24, 2019
2 min read
You see the end product but we’re bringing you closer to the people behind it!
We sat down with Hanadi Sidawi, product manager of one of our most popular solutions “SimpleStrata” to get to know her more and understand her journey to becoming SimpleStrata’s product manager.
Hanadi graduated from Abu Dhabi University with a degree in computer science and a minor in business administration. Her professional career was kicked off when she became a trainer for basic computer courses. She then shifted into another company, where she worked as a legal assistant for 1 year and then got promoted to senior legal assistant, maintaining that position for 2 more years.
With that kind of experience under her belt, she was able to join Exceed as an HR Coordinator where her focus was on internal policies and labor law compliance in Exceed’s different branches. After some time, the bulk of work was getting more focused on employee performance. To familiarise herself with its methodologies and the system handling it, she began the process of self-teaching and read books to study the main frameworks that formulate the basis of Employee Performance Management and Strategy Execution.
That way, she become proficient in the language that provisions the performance solution that Exceed was developing and was working as a performance specialist implementing the methodology of employee performance in Exceed. As she worked more closely with SimpleStrata, she became proficient in it, which lead the way for her to become the product manager.
By getting more exposed to customers, Hanadi and the team came to know that the challenges that Exceed faced internally were common across almost all organisations from different industries.
Exceed had the methodologies but faced a challenge in communicating, implementing, and executing them the right way, as did the other organisations.
These challenges included:
After the system had reached the desired level of maturity, it was launched in Exceed first then to the market and was able to resolve the 99% of the challenges of many organisations, regardless of their size/industry.
Want to know more about the methodologies behind SimpleStrata?
Click here.
Success Stories
One of our larger customers, SCAMAF (Social Care & Minor Affairs Foundation) were using excel sheets to manually monitor and execute their strategy, which was not only very time-consuming, but it was also exhausting the efforts of employees involved who can be utilising their time in other more efficient tasks. Not only that, but the end result would usually have inaccuracies as human error is guaranteed with repetitive tasks such as this one.
What the SimpleStrata team did was they helped them migrate all their data, which was a huge number of excel files, into the system. They set up the system according to SCAMAF’s execution process, and they provided them with the required training to be able to understand and use the system.
They immediately were satisfied with the system as it had created the perfect environment for them that does not require human intervention. After using the system, they had clear visibility on individual performance as well as organisational performance. Whereas they previously had a full department dedicated to strategy execution, they now had only the Head of Strategy monitoring everything via SimpleStrata.
Statement from the SimpleStrata team:
Since we launched it to the market in 2019, we reduced the time and efforts of 20+ organisations with 3,000 employees across numerous industries: 50% decrease in the time required for collecting performance data & 40% increase in employees’ awareness on their goals and KPIs.
Intrigued? Click here for a FREE trial!
2 min read
We live in a time that is characterised by a major technology takeover, a time experiencing the 4th industrial revolution. Companies that want to survive and evolve must keep track of technology breakthroughs, because as we’ve come to know, technology can make or break a company’s success.
In light of that, it is imperative to always look forward in anticipation and not just wait for a trend to start “trending”. We have created a list of what we speculate to be the major technology trends of 2020 that everyone should keep an eye out for.
No matter how much technology advances, it is agreed that no single tool can replace humans. Most organisations out there are already familiar with automation, which involves automating simple tasks that require processes with predefined rules and structured data. The idea of HyperAutomation, on the other hand, involves a combination of tools that together result in the creation of an organisation’s digital twin, which allows for the automation of more complex work.
According to Gartner, combining robotic process automation, intelligent business management software, and AI enables organisations to visualise how functions, processes, and key performance indicators interact to drive value.
Allowing this digital twin to become an integral part of the HyperAutomation process as it provides real-time continuous intelligence about the organisation will enable more informed decision making. Successful automation involves several key factors: discover, analyse, design, automate, measure, monitor, & reassess.
An example of a tool that is designed based on these factors would be Exceed’s ESP.
While Blockchain was first developed back in 1991, it came to life with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009. The idea of bitcoin mimics printed currency in the transactional sense, but instead of being regulated by a central bank or government, bitcoin is regulated by a network of computers. Blockchain is the protocol on which bitcoin is built.
In the simplest terms, Investopedia defines Blockchain as “a distributed, decentralised, public ledger”, which translates to digital information (blocks) that are stored in a public database (chain). While blockchain is beneficial in peer to peer transactions and small-scope projects, it remains immature for enterprise deployments due to technical issues.
However, market speculations anticipate it to be fully scalable by 2023. According to research conducted by Gartner, “true blockchain will have the potential to transform industries, and eventually the economy, as complementary technologies such as AI begin to integrate alongside blockchain.”
Can Machines Think?
AI involves designing “human-like” machines that are able to perform tasks requiring intelligence. Machines are built to mimic processes and tasks that involve recognition of images, speech, or patterns & decision making. Those processes include acquiring information and rules, using those rules to reach conclusions, & self-correction.
Unlike traditional coding, the computer creates instructions for itself using machine learning algorithms rather than having humans write those instructions. To demonstrate the effect of AI, take google translate for an example.
When it first went live, google translate used to have more than a million lines of code (human-created instructions). Currently, google translate has 500 lines of code due to machine learning. However, while it is expected to overtake every industry, one must understand its limitations.
Knowledge in AI comes from data, and for the machine to be accurate, it must read from accurate data. While businesses have been understanding what AI can and can't achieve for the past few years, it expected that the future points towards a time where machines are appointed not only all of the physical work, as they have done since the industrial revolution, but also the mental work involving planning, strategising, and making decisions.
Sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2020/
https://www.simplilearn.com/top-technology-trends-and-jobs-article
2 min read
KPI reporting can clearly communicate the progress of a company towards its performance goals. Not only the managers can access key results in an instant and transparent manner, but also make informed strategic decisions.
Here are the top benefits of investing in a great KPI reporting tool for your organisation and management.
1. They Let You Measure Results
Measuring is an important part of KPI reporting. It is the primary key that informs you about the success or failure of your work. You need to measure the progress made towards the achievement of your target: the number of sales increased (sales performing), the number of new customers or anything in your business you want to measure.
KPIs provide actionable information because they are always measurable and quantifiable. For example, if one of a hotel company's identified CSFs maintains a high level of occupancy throughout the year, a KPI would be the percentage of occupancy of rooms, measured on a weekly basis, using the previous year as a benchmark.
2. They Help You Set Business Goals
You need to set a target and aim to reach it in a set period. You can set more than one targets and create different keys for each of your targets to ensure you measure your progress and then try to achieve your goals.
It's often difficult to keep all departments or teams within an organisation aligned and working toward common goals. Once an organisation's Mission, Vision and CSFs have been written into a strategic plan, KPIs break down complex information into understandable metrics and provide feedback on the organisation's progress. Communication of progress toward KPIs keeps everyone moving forward in the same direction.
You May Also Like: Guide to the Must-Have KPIs for Service Companies
3. They Offer Incentives to Your Team
KPIs are often linked to incentives. Teams or individuals are offered an incentive to improve their KPIs to a particular level during a specific time period. In order for this to be successful, the KPIs have to be clearly understood and quantifiable, and reporting must be accurate. The information provided by KPIs empowers people to improve their own personal performance along with that of the organisation.
4. They Help Your Find Issues in Your Business Strategy
Managers can use KPI to identify any issues present in the construction of business. Any type of problems such as labor productivity issues, danger to employee safety and failures to meet the expectations and needs of customers. KPI enables businesses to recognise these issues to take appropriate action to rectify these problems. Companies can also resolve customer’s issues and concerns with the help of KPI by analysing feedbacks from clients to check whether the expectations of clients are met or not. This approach also helps in eradicating future potential issues that may occur in the future projects.
4. They Let Your Discover Strengths in Your Strategy
With the KPIs, companies can easily unearth potential strengths to use any opportunities that you can use to enhance the performance of your business. Businesses can easily find the strengths whenever a post-project review shows a high score and this score indicates your performance in your performance. Companies can follow the same procedure to upgrade the performance of their company if your post-project review shows high score.
5. They Align Your Marketing & Sales Efforts
With help of KPIs, companies can easily measure and calculate all efforts that also includes marketing spend and sales department so that all departments can work in a harmonised way. When goals are decided by companies, team members start work in collaboration. This approach brings two departments closer for better insight.
6. They Save Business Expenses
With KPIs, you can easily recognise any cost saving prospects related to the project construction and also craft ways to curb any extra costs that may occur in future. KPI basically include tracking of uncommitted costs and also upsurges committed costs as and when required. Business can easily add factors like contingent costs and price escalation into the committed costs to restrict financial exposure. The knowledge that is gained from the audit can assist companies to manage all labor and material costs when they do bidding for construction in the future.
Are you considering getting your own KPI dashboard?
Try SimpleStrata
SimpleStrata provides a complete solution which enables organisations to communicate and execute their strategy in an effective way, by helping them:
Manage Results
Set goals, objectives, and KPIs
Generate periodic measures
Distribute to employees
Schedule review meetings
Generate results’ scores
Manage efforts
Plan initiatives, projects, jobs
Link to strategy plans
Schedule and assign activities
Monitor progress
Generate efforts’ scores
Create visibility
Define correlations between results and efforts
Generate business intelligence dashboards
Provide insights about corrective actions
We live in a time that is characterised by a major technology takeover, a time experiencing the 4th industrial revolution. Companies that want to survive and evolve must keep track of technology breakthroughs, because as we’ve come to know, technology can make or break a company’s success.
You see the end product but we’re bringing you closer to the people behind it !
Every sales manager knows that taking proper care of the sales team is an unwritten rule of a business to achieve greater heights.
