Editor’s Note: “Innovation Highlights: Advancing Performance with State-of-the-Art Solutions” is an article written by The KPI Institute’s Jr. Management Consultant Andreana Dumitrescu and former Business Research Analyst Agnes Ilyes. This piece was first published in the latest edition of Performance Magazine. 

Embracing innovation is part of upgrading your organization’s performance. It requires building your innovation capability, culture, and management as well as getting inspiration from your environment. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Become a Citizen-Developer

Low-code development platforms have a revolutionary role, increasing the performance of software developers, accelerating application delivery, and simplifying complex tasks. At the same time, low-code and no-code tools for programming allow anyone without experience in the domain to create applications or systems, and these users are called citizen-developers. 

Low-code development platforms can automate time-consuming processes, allow employees to use visual and templated workflows, and make technology products reach the market faster. This leads to efficiency, new levels of growth, and great business value. However, those who need customized solutions may still need to use high-code platforms. While users may no longer need to learn coding, no-code platforms are expensive and may not appeal to small businesses. 

Using Drones in Performance Management

In the construction industry, drones are used to monitor employee productivity, collecting real-time data for organizations and giving them a competitive edge. The system gives them the ability to monitor people and activities and gather information fast. This information can be about whether a project is completed on time and on budget, spotting unauthorized use of or damage to the employer’s property, employee safety, human error, and labor costs. Drones can record photos and videos, and the footage can be easily shared with any device. With real-time access to the progress of a project, managers can determine potential causes of delays and the contribution of employees to the overall business strategy and project success. 

Microlearning as the Future of Workplace Learning

The global microlearning market is expected to reach $3. 8 billion by 2027, according to the report “Global Microlearning Industry” by Reportlinker.com. Microlearning refers to learning delivered in short-form, independent units and typically features personalized videos, tutorials, quizzes, or games. 

The topics of microlearning are the simplified versions of those taught in complex and widely structured learning environments. The shift to remote work and the demand for new skills accelerated the popularity of microlearning. The benefits of microlearning include accessibility, flexibility, and reduced development costs. It attracts workers, especially millennials, who prefer faster and engaging learning sessions, customized, and relaxed to avoid cognitive overload. 

Uber’s T3 B3 Process

When Uber’s employees complained that the company’s traditional performance review was subjective and dwelled too much on employees’ past behavior, the transport company devised a strategy called the T3 B3 Process. T3 B3, which means “top three bottom three,” asks employees to identify their top three qualities and bottom three areas for improvement. Their answers will generate new goals, which are entered into a system accessible to all members of the organization. 

Uber’s new review process highlights development based on job performance. The regular feedback that employees receive are categorized into positive reinforcement or constructive advice. Every week, managers monitor their feedback ratios and balance the two categories.

The Military Adopts the 360-degree Appraisal System to Get Rid of Toxic Leaders

Used by companies like Amazon, IBM, and Netflix, the 360-degree appraisal system will now be integrated into the selection board and assignments processes of the U.S. Marine Corps. It will conduct a pilot program first in 2022 and implement it fully in 2024. This means moving away from solely depending on their fitness reports, which are performance notes from two supervisors. 

The U.S. Marine Corps believes that a 360-degree performance review will help them avoid promoting senior leaders who may not be fit for the positions. By getting the feedback of Marine’s senior officials and subordinates, the organization can detect traits of toxic leadership as well as potential strengths and unidentified weaknesses. 

The 360-degree feedback offers employees regular confidential feedback from multiple viewpoints. This feedback system involves personalized questions and workflows, qualitative feedback, and agile pulse surveys. Moreover, the 360-degree review process emphasizes social reinforcement, encouraging workers to be more open to feedback and adjust their behavior. 

According to Harvard Business Review, initiatives to innovate usually fail and even successful innovators struggle to maintain their performance due to “the lack of an innovation strategy.”

For more than 10 years, The KPI Institute has established a standard in every facet of performance management through tailored KPI-based solutions. Join the Certified Innovation Performance Professional Live Online course on 18-22 July 2022 to learn how to link innovation to your organization’s strategy and goals in achieving excellence in performance, or get certified in IP Professional. For further details, visit our website. 

This piece was first published in the latest edition of Performance Magazine. Andrea Minelli is the head of Professional Services SEA and a trainer and Performance Management Consultant at The KPI Institute. Andrea shared his views on the question “What Are the Success Factors of a Corporate Performance Management Implementation Process?”

A performance management system (PMS) implementation is not an easy feat regardless of the maturity of their implementation SOPs and the capability of those individuals guiding the implementation exercise. The success rate of a PMS implementation is highly dependent on the degree of buy-in of the members of the organization regardless of whether the member is involved in the implementation per se of the framework or if they will be appraised using the mentioned system. 

Such buy-in or organizational support towards the framework can be secured via continuous and transparent knowledge-sharing sessions. We explain to all members the motivation of the implementation and the desired outcomes. We train all allocated members in raising their knowledge and awareness towards the technicality of the framework (the specificity of these training should be customized as per the audience). 

For instance, the implementation team, which is generally members of the departments of Strategy Execution, Performance Management, Quality Assurance, or Organizational Excellence, will have a more in-depth technical preparation with respect to a non-PMS-implementation member. 

Such knowledge-sharing sessions aim at upskilling those members involved in applying standardized practices related to Strategic Planning and Execution, selection of Performance Measurement indicators, such as KPIs, at different organizational layers, and above all, proper cascading/alignment practices for Strategic and Performance Management matters. 

Last but not least, it is relevant to remember that the implementation of all the mentioned practices requires not only informed, skilled, and capable individuals from specific departments of the organization, but a proper dedicated governance framework that will foster and assist both the implementation team and all the members of the organization. Crucial support is required by Top Management and BoDs members pre-during and after the PMS framework is in place. 

There is no one-size-fits solution as organizational readiness, both technical and human-wise, play a big role in the PMS success. A governance-led standardized implementation approach will provide the foundations of success though.

Andrea Minelli facilitates the Certified Performance Management Professional Live Online Course of The KPI Institute. Stay tuned to The KPI Institute’s LinkedIn official page for the upcoming schedule and learn more about the Certification in Performance Management here.

Editor’s Note: “Business Analytics Trends: Is the Future of Data Here?” is an article written by Islam Salahuddin and originally published in the latest edition of Performance Magazine. 

Machines don’t have a worldview, according to the famous translator Richard Pevear. That’s no longer the case today, especially with data analytics. Businesses turn to data analytics to survive and adapt to disruptions. At the same time, data analytics is evolving to meet the new challenges. Here’s a glimpse of how the already noticeable trends in the pre-pandemic world have accelerated and transformed data analytics in different ways.

External Data: Predicting the Demand for Hershey’s Bars 

External data is data collected and provided by third parties. Companies now need to incorporate data from the outside world to weigh external factors in their analytics. Examples of external data are trending narratives, real-time financial trends, and property values.

In a July 2021 article, FoodDive showed how the chocolate company Hershey used data generated by IRI, a global market insights and analytics provider, to predict the demand for Hershey’s six-bar product. Since Hersey knows the number of people who plan to make s’mores in their backyards, want to spend time with family and friends, and invest in their homes during the pandemic, the manufacturer is able to adjust their inventory and production, create a relevant marketing message, and even respond to the demand for other parts of their portfolio.

Data Monetization: Where the Opportunities Are

External data can be either free or paid. While it is true that most of the datasets of the COVID-19 are available for no charge, the escalating attention to external sources could draw more attention to the paid options. According to ResearchandMarket.com’s “Global Data Monetization Platform Markets Report 2021,” data bartering, data brokering, insights bartering, and business intelligence are the four channels that shape the business processes and data evolution across the value chain.

The report states that telecommunication giants could become value-added solutions providers and offer advertising solutions through monetizing consumer data. Digital platforms and services will dominate the data monetization space while insights-as-a-service is considered “the data monetization model of the future.” Other opportunities for tech vendors and enterprises are in data security and privacy, location data, and digital data monetization platforms.

AI-empowered Analytics and Beyond

The artificial intelligence (AI)-empowered analysis of unstructured datasets is known as cognitive analytics. It depends on real-time generated data of images, videos, text, and other forms created through social media networks and the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. It is useful in running sentiment analysis on social media interactions as it allows for better understanding of customers’ emotions and ideas and thus enables a better customer service experience.

For IoT, small-size motion sensors can now be embedded in wearable products to understand customers’ activities and needs, giving valuable insights and opening horizons for new levels of customized products.

Agile Analytics: Catch Up if You Can

However diverse your analytics methods are, they will be of no use if you do not incorporate them into operations and act on them quickly, especially during disasters. Research published in the Open Journal of Business and Management states that being agile in the analytics process involves consciousness, accessibility, decisiveness, speed, and flexibility.

In a webinar, Hugh Owen, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at the MicroStrategy, a business intelligence (BI) firm, emphasized that agile data-driven decision-making requires an organizational strategy, deploying an analytics platform in the cloud for speed, power, and security, and using self-service BI analytics to empower end users and help them save more time. 

Shifting to Cloud-based Analytics

Work from home policies have stressed the benefit of cloud analytics. Cloud storage of data means that instead of keeping data files on hardware held in the brick-and-mortar premises, data files are uploaded, kept, and governed in advanced servers operated by third-party companies, through which the data is accessed and processed.

The benefits of cloud-based analytics include reduced costs of devices required for storing and securing data, accessibility from any device, and enhanced processing speed, depending on servers’ capabilities rather than local devices. 

Scaling Up with Data Lakes 

Conversations about the rise of data lakes have been around even before the pandemic. As the volume, velocity, variety, and value of data increase and constitute big data, the need for a new form of data storage arises. A data lake is different from simple tabulated data sets like spreadsheets, arranged in defined groups called data warehouses and sometimes categorized for specific uses called data marts. A data lake is like a swamp that is able to contain raw data in structured and unstructured forms and is generated in real-time.

The importance of such capability has been emphasized by the pandemic world as more real-time data is generated, allowing for more advanced AI-driven analytics. Adopting both a data lake in addition to a data warehouse will therefore be more relevant to businesses in the post-pandemic future.

Data is essential for businesses. It helps business leaders better understand their clients, predict consumer behavior patterns, identify trends, improve the quality of services provided, and support “organizational decision-making and strategy”, according to Forbes. 

To strengthen your knowledge in developing organizational strategy and business planning using a strategic framework, join The KPI Insititute’s Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional Live Online course on 13-17 June 2022. Visit our website for further information and sign up here.

The Great Resignation made front-page news in 2021 and remains a labor market talking point this year. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the Great Resignation in the United States continued in February 2022, with more than 4.3 million people quitting their jobs after a series high of 4.5 million in November 2021. 

While Willis Towers Watson’s 2022 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey estimates that only 11% planned to look for a job in the first quarter of 2022 out of 44% job seekers, employees quitting their jobs continues to become a trend in the second quarter and even went viral on TikTok. 

The hashtag #greatresignation gained over 163.5 million views on the popular video-sharing mobile application, followed by #quittingmyjob with over 123.6 million views. TikTok users share their working conditions that urged them to quit. 

One of them shared that employees have to report to work even if they tested positive for COVID-19. According to @saygracee23 in her #quittingmyjob video that has over 1.2 million views, employees avoid being late or absent to get eligible for bonuses. Since they are understaffed, her employer pledged a 100 USD bonus per paycheck if an employee has no call-outs.

Another user named @annamsutter, who claims she is an “achiever since birth,” decided to quit her job due to struggles at work. She said, “no job should make you compromise your mental health, physical health, your well-being, personal relationship, and your personal life in general.” Her #greatresignation video has 1.7 million views.

What HR Managers Can Do

Reevaluate work setup. Mark Lobosco, Vice President of Talent Solutions at LinkedIn, mentioned in his article on LinkedIn that employees, as well as job hunters. now prefer a good work-life balance career over competitive benefits and compensation. 

Employees also desire flexibility. They want to be able to work from anywhere, at any time, and in whatever way they can. Results of a Flexjobs survey revealed that work flexibility has a “huge” or “positive” impact on employees’ quality of life. If companies allow people to enjoy flexibility, HR managers should ensure that policies and programs regarding work arrangements meet the needs of employees and are also aligned with business goals.

Welcome diversity in the workplace. Culture is one of the factors that compel employees to leave. The organization must foster an environment in which it is safe for their employees to be themselves. HR managers must promote diversity consistently in different areas, starting from how employees are recruited and interviewed to their access to programs that promote growth and inclusion. HR managers must ensure that policies affecting diversity should lead to inclusion in the workplace.

“Employees are more comfortable in organizations where diversity, equity, and inclusion are being promoted. Reversely, employees felt an aversion towards experiences of disrespect and unethical behavior within the company,” Manoj Dubey, a consultant at The KPI Institute, wrote in his article on Performance Magazine titled “The Great Resignation and the Requirement of a Data-driven Approach from HR.”

Use the right metrics and KPIs. Human resource professionals are rethinking their roles, culture, and values in response to the Great Resignation. Recruiting and retaining talent has become a challenge for them due to the changing preferences in the job market. Data can help HR predict trends and problems, determine what needs to be done or improve in different areas, and understand what employees need from their workplace. 

One of the things they should pay attention to and explore further is the use of key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPI Institute released The Top 25 Human Resources KPIs – 2020 Extended Edition report, which compiles the most popular 25 KPIs used by Human Resources divisions throughout 2016 and 2020. The 25 Human Resources KPIs identified are categorized into seven divisions:

• Compensation and Benefits capabilities capitalize on the value of effectual reward systems.
• Efficiency and Effectiveness divisions are concerned with the measurement of productivity achievement.
• Recruitment teams monitor the overall effectiveness of the recruitment process.
• Retention focuses on employee satisfaction, engagement, and turnover.
• Talent Development refers to brandishing human capital potential in a manner that maximizes its contribution to the overall performance of the organization.
• Working Environment focuses on the consolidation of a productive working environment that harnesses workforce performance.
• Workforce references job stratification and employee distribution as part of an integrated performance management system.

Learn more about the 25 most popular human resources KPIs today and read about the best practices in KPI selection and documentation. Download The Top 25 Human Resources KPIs – 2020 Extended Edition now!

Big data now plays a crucial role in every business’ success. Through the application of analytics, data analysis is allowing businesses to become even more competitive. 

Organizations adopt big data and analytics to analyze massive volumes of data generated by offline and online trading. Based on the Big Data & Business Analytics Market Statistics 2030, the value of the global big data and business analytics market is estimated to increase to $684.12 billion by 2030 from $198.08 billion in 2020. 

The goal of data analysis is to extract meaningful information and use it to make informed business decisions. By analyzing and comparing previous and new data, organizations can understand what happened in between. Then, organizations can come up with metrics and action plans to drive their performance. It involves boosting customer loyalty, increasing sales, improving and retaining successful practices, and enhancing employee productivity.

According to a PwC poll of 1,000 corporate executives, data-driven firms were three times more likely to achieve big gains in their decision-making capabilities. 

A data-first approach is required for a digital-first enterprise strategy. In a multi-cloud context, a well-planned data strategy for a digital company gives “business transformation opportunities, cost reduction, better engagement, and maximum flexibility.”

To get the most out of data, organizations must create an effective data analysis process. This procedure entails objective setting, data collection, cleaning and analyzing data, and data visualization.

Before collecting data, defining the goals of the organization is important. Businesses can choose the type of data to collect and evaluate it to ensure it is aligned with their goals. Then, businesses must integrate data using tools such as Informatica PowerCenter, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) by Microsoft, AWS Glue by Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Alteryx Designer.. 

All data must be gathered in one place to be examined. Companies must clean their data by removing irrelevant and unwanted information, fixing structural errors, and filling out the missing data in order to produce accurate findings. To better understand the data, organizations should use data analysis software and other technologies. 

Some data analysis software available are XLSTAT, the leading data analysis and statistical solution for Microsoft Excel; Python, a powerful tool consisting of materials for any aspect of scientific computing; and SAS, a statistical software for business intelligence and data management.

To acquire useful insights, businesses should dive deep into the data. They should analyze and narrow down the results of the gathered data to draw conclusions. Then, organizations must interpret the results to figure out the best next steps to reach the goals established in the beginning of the process.

Organizations should deliver information in a readable and understandable format. Businesses can present data using graphs, maps, and charts. Data visualization can help companies compare data sets and observe their relationships.

Data analysis helps anticipate future trends more precisely, allowing organizations to determine where they are headed and what they need to get there.

To learn more about data analysis, explore The KPI Institute’s reports and free webinars and stay tuned for the next schedule of the Certified Data Analysis Live Online Course.

Benchmarking is a powerful management tool used by businesses to track progress and assess their goals. It involves measuring the company’s operational performance compared against internal and external standards. 

Benchmarking is also about researching best practices in the industry to help a company reach a high-ranking performance level. It allows organizations to build a solid starting point.

Andrea Minelli, a management consultant at The KPI Institute, wrote an article on Performance Magazine about why companies must invest in benchmarking. He stressed that benchmarking has the potential to be a “powerful tool to promote continuous improvement in performance.”

Andrea explained that benchmarking allows businesses to concentrate on their advantages and disadvantages. It also enables them to increase their market position.

In another article on Performance Magazine, benchmarking enables businesses to compare performance data collected by analyzing identical processes or activities carried out by other businesses. The process of benchmarking lets organizations discover, adapt, and replicate the strategies that created the greatest outcomes for their best competitors.

According to the author, Andrada Ghețe, benchmarking supports the idea “that performance numbers can mean less when analyzed without having a point of reference (a benchmark) as a comparison starting point.”

“For example, in the airline industry, an airline company has a turnaround time of 55 minutes. Is it good, or bad? It is hard to find the answer, unless you compare this 55 minutes turnaround time to an objective standard, such as the industry average turnaround time for other airline companies,” Ghete wrote.

According to Business News Daily, the three most common types of benchmarking are Internal, Competitive, and Strategic.

Internal benchmarking refers to conducting comparisons within an organization. It can help a company save time and money by identifying and eliminating waste. Employee performance and effectiveness, as well as how employees use the resources supplied by the company, are examples of internal benchmarks that firms should consider. яндекс

Competitive benchmarking allows businesses to compare their company’s performance, product, and services against their competitors in the same market. Competitive benchmarks let companies catch up with the trends and adjust their marketing strategies to have a competitive advantage.

Strategic benchmarking refers to taking “a long-term view of company direction relative to the future strategies of competing companies.”

If you would like to know more about how your organization can benefit from benchmarking, join The KPI Institute’s Certified Benchmarking Professional Live Online on 18-22 April 2022.

Understand the importance of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your best competitor. Learn how to constantly improve the performance of your organization. Know the difference benchmarking can make in your business  and register here.