Govt dept Use of KPI to measure performance
I do not like the use of KPI to measure performance in a commercial organization or the public sector.

Why?

It could lead to dispute, unhappiness and deliberate cheating. 

I believe that many supervisors faced this problem over the years. I am not sure if they are now able to manage the system to produce positive results.

I share this recent experience. 

I engaged a free lancer from a website to develop a software project. On completing the project, I was asked to give my score on 5 factors. I scored 5 points (excellent)  on 2 factors and 4 points (good) on 3 factors. I considered it to be a good score. 

The free lancer was unhappy. He insisted that he should get 5 points on all the scores. He said that my average of 4.4 points would bring down his score and affect his ranking to be assigned other jobs. He claimed that his score was a perfect 5.0 from his past jobs.

The website does not allow me to make a change or to withdraw the review. They wanted an "honest" assessment. In any case, I do not consider the developer to deserve a perfect score.

It is easy to design a complicated system, but it is difficult to implement it in practice. 

I am sure that many supervisors faced this dilemma when they are asked to give a KPI rating for their subordinates. Many of the KPI measurements are subjective, e.g. communication, quality, expertise, etc.

I hope that organizations should get away from the reliance on KPI. I can be counterproductive and time wasting.

Tan Kin Lian

Vote - do you agree that generally the use of KPI can cause difficulty?



 

 

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