Results-Based Measurement: Better Measures in Less Time

What is Results-Based Measurement?

Results-Based Measurement, or RBM, is Zigon Performance Group's unique way of looking at and teaching others to create measures for the really hard-to-measure aspects of today's work. RBM doesn't ignore behavior or activity, but sees it as the means to the important end - RESULTS.

Customers don't want to hear how hard you've worked, or what techniques you've tried, they want results. For example:

A car that's repaired and running, not what parts were replaced
An employee who can do something he couldn't do before, not a training session completed
A customer who's happy with their purchase, not a checkout procedure that was followed

What Are the Alternatives to RBM?

Performance measurement has historically been based on activity, goal completion, competencies, and any number of other options.

Activity-based measurement asks, "What would we see the employee doing?" or "How is time being spent?" or "What do we have to do to get to our goal?". In each case the emphasis is on activity/behavior/actions which are means, not ends. As a result, by measuring activity, they generate more activity, because what gets measured gets done.

Goal completion, also known as MBO or Management by Objectives, has the potential to define results, but most often uses deadlines to measure completed tasks. And in many cases the timeliness of the task completion is much less important than the quality of the result.

And finally competencies define what skills, knowledge and experience an individual needs, in order to produce results. But having a skill and using it successfully are two very different things. A car mechanic with a certificate of training completion on the wall is not the same as a repaired car.

How is RBM Different?

RBM starts by asking the question, "What result must this employee produce which will add value for the customer, or help us achieve our corporate goals?" and then, "How would we know that this result was done well?"

The customer-focused part of the approach helps drive corporate success and customer satisfaction. Results flow from customers' needs and value is always in the eyes of the customer. In addition, by asking what results an employee has to produce to support corporate goals, the employee's goals will be linked to organization's direction.

Instead of measuring activities, RBM asks, "If this activity was done really well, what result would be produced which adds value for the customer?" And so, instead of measuring "training programs", we ask, "If the training was done really well, what result would we produce?". The answer, "competent employees" becomes the starting point for measurement, instead of "training programs".

Instead of using MBOs which ask "Was the task done by the deadline?", RBM defines the result and allows any combination of quantity, quality, cost or timeliness measures to apply. It is rare that a customer only cares about the deadline to the exclusion of quality or cost.

Instead of using competencies, RBM asks, "If the employee uses the skills/knowledge well, what will be produced for the customer?" An so, instead of measuring "product knowledge", a sales clerk might be evaluated on "recommendations for products meeting the customer's needs" or "sales".

In short, RBM measures, and thus drives, results.

What Problems does RBM solve?

Measuring the "hard stuff" - many times hard-to-measure work like graphic design or R&D is made more easily measurable by starting with the result. Knowing that a "logo" or a "new AIDS drug" is the result can make measurement easier.
Alignment - goals can be aligned with corporate direction and customer needs because the the results are derived from these starting points.
Speed - Creating measures using RBM takes less time. Defining good measures that used to take months can now be done in hours.
Cost of tracking - Tracking behavior or competencies is very expensive. Tracking results is usually cheaper and less time-consuming - allowing more time to produce results instead of measuring.
Creativity - Defining the result and allowing employees to seek the best way to get there rewards finding new, more efficient paths to the goal. Measuring activity rewards conformity to a set procedure.
Activity focus - If your employees are lost in the activity and don't know why they are doing what they're doing, RBM answers the "why" question and helps them focus on producing value.

How Do You Practice RBM?

The steps are simple:

Review the organzation's goals.
Identify the customers of the position/department/function.
Define the results needed to meet the organizational goals and the customers' needs.
Create measures for each result.
Set goals for each measure.
Plan how to track the performance to determine if the goal has been achieved.

What is Unique about ZPG's RBM?

We've been refining the technology for 24 years.
We have thousands of examples you can use to speed up your measurement development process
We have training in print, CDROM, online and in person to help your staff, managers and employees learn how to do this for themselves
We've boiled down the steps in the simplest, easiest to understand process so anyone can learn to measure employee, department or organizational performance.