Our data highlights the power of acting on measurements, whether from customer or employee surveys. This yields positive outcomes in key KPIs and indices. It is said that you become what you measure – but what you measure only matters if it is followed up.
All organisations have key performance indicators (KPIs) that they monitor, gathering results either internally through digital tools, business systems, or, for example, through employee surveys. At Brilliant, we assist our clients in measuring, analysing, and acting on both customer and employee experiences. These results are usually reviewed at the management level alongside other more direct financial KPIs.
As organisational developers, we primarily assist clients conducting some form of external follow-up on their customer and employee relations. What is measured and followed up tends to become significant and guides where you are headed. It also shifts focus from management and the rest of the organisation from possibly more important matters!
Too often, an organisation might conduct a customer survey or follow up on a KPI simply because it has historically monitored that area and now wants to see if there has been any progress. However, it is rare that they evaluate and update which KPIs they monitor and which surveys support these KPIs.
There is often a fear of “losing the history,” which risks losing sight of the goal instead.
Regarding employee experience, it is about identifying behaviours that drive our goals, and then monitoring various perspectives, such as leadership, pride increase (eNPS), adherence to values, engagement increase, or clarity and goals being evident. Everything depends on where the organisation is currently and where you aim to go. You become what you measure – so understanding and breaking down KPIs into concrete behaviours and then ensuring these are carried out can lead to success and change.
Currently, pride in being an attractive employer is incredibly important, so we can retain our talents and recruit new ones with the right skills. Monitoring KPIs helps us become a more defined organisation and see if we are reaching our employees with our communications. Turning a specific question in an employee survey into a KPI can help us focus, which in turn drives improvement.
We studied 90 different workgroups. The study clearly shows a difference in Engagement Index, Team Effectiveness, Leadership Index, and eNPS among groups that have actively worked with the results from their latest employee survey. In other words – acting on the results will have an impact.
What is sometimes missed is communicating our results and HOW we have achieved them, celebrating our victories, and building pride in what we have managed to change and achieve. KPIs become what we do every day so that we can “build our cathedral” and enhance customer satisfaction. Setting a measurement strategy that reflects what you need to do to achieve your goals thus becomes strategically important, and checking to see how we are doing becomes a tool in everyday life that can nudge us back in the right direction so that you can become what you measure.
Some things to consider to avoid moving in the wrong direction:
- Do the KPIs we monitor lead us towards our goal?
- Can leaders in the organisation break down the KPIs so that each part/person in the organisation can act and contribute?
- Are we measuring things that we can then act on and develop? Do we collect results in surveys only to obtain a KPI, or do we ensure that the surveys are also tailored to collect important insights that help us understand how we are moving towards the goal and what contributes to achieving it?
- Do we feedback to the organisation how things are going? Are we helping everyone to feel involved and proud? Communication is always more important than we think.
- Do we act on movements in our KPIs? If you want to see a different result, you must do something different.
Organisations that have worked long with Brilliant also have a higher average Relationship-NPS. The study is based on 30 organisations that all measured relationship-NPS, with at least 100 responses per organisation:
We have over 25 years of experience in measuring, analysing, and helping our clients to act on outcomes. Our entire approach is grounded in a well-tested scientific method. We have validated indices and benchmarks from many different industries. Contact us to find out how your organisation can easily start measuring your customer or employee relations.