Business Metrics: Key Performance Indicators

A business metric is a unit of measurement used to quantify a company’s performance and provides employees with standards for improvement. People often refer to business metrics as a set of key performance indicators.

Amend selects a unique set of business metrics for each company we consult. A finite set of business metrics is confirmed early in the consulting period, as a performance benchmark.

In subsequent weeks and months, performance data is compared against this initial benchmark to track progress. Amend targets improvement across all business metrics, for the largest impact on growth and financials.

Here is a sample list of business metrics we track for clients:

• Utilization of human talent (employee skill development, time efficiency)
• Production levels (over- or under-production)
• Inventory management
• Project lead times
• Wait time in production
• Production equipment performance
• Occurrence of product defects
• Speed of project completion
• Timing of deliverables
• Transportation efficiency
• Achievement of quality standards
• EBITA results (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization)
• Revenue and ROI

Although revenue and return-on-investment (ROI) are individually tracked, the hope is that improvement in each business metric will directly impact company revenues.

What is a balanced scorecard?
A key phrase in process improvement is "balanced scorecard." Click to learn more about this powerful approach to performance tracking.