A football team is a great example of how any diverse team should operate: Every team member has a very distinct role. The quarterback has to call the plays and make them happen. The receiver needs to know their route and catch the ball. The lineman needs to block the defense so the plays are successful. Who usually gets fired when the team is losing? It’s the coaches and leadership of the team. Most of the players remain. Why is that? It’s usually because most failures of high-level organizations are because each team member isn’t hitting their full potential. The team members need effective leadership and development to operate at a high level. All the players on the team have stats that are displayed for everyone to see. Every team member knows how much value they bring to the team. A great leader will supercharge the team’s ability to improve and hit their full potential.
Our last blog post, Part 4, was about tracking key performance indicators (KPI’s). Today we will build off that article and use some of our KPI numbers to create scorecards for all company team members so they can see where they stand and build strategy for improvement.
Key tips for creating a great scorecard
1) The team members should be able to see where they stand in 10 seconds. A scorecard should be simple and to the point.
2) Scorecards should have less than five items. We don’t want to give team members analysis paralysis. You’ll want to give them solid manageable metrics they can relate to.
3) Scorecards should only have metrics they have control over. We want metrics they can use to improve. Giving them numbers they have no control over is not beneficial for the purpose of the score card.
4) Scorecards should have trackable KPI’s. You’ll need numbers you can consistently track to create metrics for the team members performance.
5) Scorecards need to show team members how they can hit their goals. The metrics on the scorecard should have a development track to help them hit their full potential.
6) Scorecards should help individuals hit their targets, which collectively give a path to hit company goals. The company goals can be achieved if every team member is hitting their target metrics. Delegate the company goals to every team member and track their progress with the scorecard.
7) All the metrics for each team member are visible like a stat sheet for the entire company to see. The high performers can have a healthy level of competition with each other and the lower performers can see the potential if they apply themselves and continually improve.
Examples of what to track
Here are a couple examples of what a scorecard for a retail sales associate and field technician would track.
Retail sales associate:
- Booking rate
- Closing rate
- Average ticket
- Internal commitment and collegiality
- Client experience rating.
Field technician:
- Productivity score
- Bonus pay
- Skill level
- Internal commitment and collegiality
- Client experience.
Tips for tracking less tangible scores
A lot of the focus in the blog series is about creating trackable systems. We have covered how to produce a lot of these numbers and will continue with the next posts in this series. Something that is unique to these scorecards that we haven’t covered is “internal commitment and collegiality” and “client experience.” This can be tracked by the team evaluating themselves and each other for internal feedback. The client can fill out a feedback form, as well, to track the client experience. Another measure you can use is if they are mentioned in a review. And, finally, their work can be evaluated for quality and implemented into the scorecard. This could be project-based or however it’s best suited for the company.
If a team member who is having a personal crisis has their score drop, it could be a great non-personal way to have a conversation with them. Or a person who improves scores could be praised and rewarded. It could help catch personality problems or disputes before they becomes a problem, as well. The overall idea is to facilitate personal development and improve company culture.
Team members must understand their value
It is vitally important that every team member understands the measurable value they bring to the company. This will give them every opportunity to perform to their full potential. We want the best for our employees and providing a structure for them to thrive means more than anything else we can provide for them. If you need resources to help develop a scorecard unique to your company, feel free to contact me. You can do it!
Our next blog post, Part 6, will be about performance pay. We will dive into a management structure that will allow team members to uncap their pay potential, eliminate milking the clock, and incentivize quality productivity through efficiency!
