KPI Examples

Before we get into the specific KPI examples, let’s talk a little bit about what KPI is all about.

You know how to drive a car. It's as simple as it could ever be. There are three pedals (two if you drive an automatic), a gear shaft, a steering wheel, the windscreen through which you perceive your immediate surroundings and the gauges. You push the right pedal, the vehicle accelerates and does the exact opposite if you step on the middle (left) pedal. You're in constant connection with the controls and can see the effects on the dashboard right in front of you.

KPIs for a business are exactly what a dashboard is for the driver of a car; they show what's happening around the company and do it with little or no delay. With a properly defined and implemented Key Performance Indicators you not only ensure that data is gathered and shown, but also make sure that it's delivered to the right person at the right time. If you really need a mnemonic to help you with setting KPIs, use the four R-s: R)elevant information delivered in R)eal-time to the R)ight person in the most R)obust way possible.

A good KPI will help the executives and the stakeholders keep track of the exact status of different benchmark values of the company. It will allow them to make well informed, quick decisions, which are very important if you are to get ahead of the competition. In case other players on the market are using them and you're not, the long term goals of your organization are in jeopardy. KPIs are also great for motivating the staff. Should they see the numbers all day long, they will do everything to make those figures look better. Competing with each other is part of human nature. It doesn't take much to make your staff fight weak performance pinpointed by KPI values. One dashboard design may differ from another, but a good report will have the correct KPIs.

Use of KPI in different fields of business

There are thousands of different KPIs that may or may not work for your particular organization. People working in IT can relate to 'Discrepancy from expected server uptime'. Trying to get that number closer to zero has meaning to the technicians, and it lets the company get closer to its long term goals. It's a good example of KPI, whereas 'Number of logged on users at a given time' is not; it's not only meaningless to them but also is a factor they can't do anything about.

A school will try to raise their 'Employment rate after graduation' KPI, it's essential to their reputation and ratings, both of which are crucial to staying in the game.

Every field that can come up with quantifiable goals it can relate to and have any influence on has a number of possible KPIs. Most KPI dashboards come with a huge set of preset indicators you can use as a starting point. Be aware of the fact that things in management tend to work better in the other direction. It saves you money to think about your requirements and needs first and try buying software after you have a clear picture.


Examples of KPI by industry

The number of KPI examples are just a whisker away from infinite; here are some to give you the general idea.

Customer Support:
-Number of calls taken per operator per day
-Percentage of calls answered in less than 30 or 120 seconds
-Average number of incoming e-mails per calls (Shows the level of satisfaction of customers. The less e-mails you get per phone calls the less people want to take their case to the next level)

Marketing:
-General brand recognition conducted via surveying a representative group of people
-Marketing expenditures per revenue

Production:
-Number of faulty units / 1000 produced units (a very common KPI example)
-Amount of manufactured units per hour or day
-Personal performance / daily quota

Sales:
-Percentage of returns per sold items or services
-Number of calls made per operator
-Expected monthly revenue based on the last 7 or 14 days


As you might already have noticed, some of the examples don't match your particular business. Some of them are completely off, some are in need of a little adjustment, but at the end of the day you're not very far down the road with them when it comes to getting the most relevant KPI reports for your industry. Business metrics consultants are eager to help you with finding the right ones, but using such a service will prove to be expensive in most cases.

If it's not something you can justify spending thousands on, try KPI example directories. They can be found online via a simple web-search. Expect to part with a sum of money when you buy such a database, and never forget to consult with your managerial team beforehand, they may already have suggestions for you.