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What are the Top 5 Key Performance Indicators?

What are the Top 5 Key Performance Indicators?

Financial results are by far the top measure used as a primary KPI in organizations. Out of the seven KPI categories to choose from in an APQC survey, respondents’ top 5 KPIs were spread out across the categories, including: financial, customer-centric, personnel, and manufacturing operations KPIs.

In July, I wrote about what KPIs are and their perceived effectiveness, and in August I wrote about how to develop KPIs. This is the final blog of the series and covers the most common KPIs organizations are using. 

What KPIs are organizations using?

In 2018 and again in 2024, APQC conducted research to better understand the common challenges and priorities associated with operational KPIs for process and performance management practitioners. Our research found that process professionals are tracking a more balanced set of primary KPIs in 2024 than they were in 2018, enabling a more holistic picture of process performance. 

The top 5 primary KPIs organizations noted using are:

  1. Financial results (70%)
  2. Full-time equivalents (56%)
  3. Customer satisfaction (56%)
  4. Margins (55%)
  5. Product volumes (41%)

Additionally, the top 5 secondary KPIs organizations noted using are: 

  1. Absenteeism (43%)
  2. Staff efficiency (42%)
  3. Client/Customer claims (41%)
  4. Net receivables/payables (38%)
  5. Client feedback (36%)

How have the primary KPI trends changed?

How have the primary KPI Trends Changed?

Looking at how the top primary KPIs have changed since 2018, there is an increased focus on personnel and manufacturing operations KPI categories. Applying technologies like automation enables fewer FTEs to carry out high-volume processes, which helps to reduce process costs and frees employees up for more value-added work. Additionally, organizations’ increased focus on manufacturing is most likely a result of the many and varied disruptions to the supply chain over the past few years.

Getting Buy-In For Important KPIs

Regardless of the categories used, it’s important for organizations to have stakeholders that are bought in to the concept of measuring their performance. Getting buy-in for the measures selected can be tough; however, APQC has four key activities we suggest for garnering the necessary buy-in:

  1. Engagement and communication - involving staff in the measurement process from the beginning gives them ownership over the processes and measures that will apply to them. Employees must understand that the measures are not just for reporting or for calling people out on poor performance. They are intended to facilitate learning, improvement, and decision making.
  2. Alignment - Make sure that what is being measured accurately reflects business processes and that those measures can be translated into improvements employees can actually make.
  3. Analytics - The reports that are distributed must provide an analysis of the data that will be clear and meaningful to those reading it. Take time to understand what information will be meaningful and beneficial to leaders and key stakeholders.
  4. Accountability - Assigning business process owners facilitates accountability for measurement and outcomes. Making one person accountable for the performance of a given process gives everyone near that process a clear point of contact for guidance if that process needs improvement or better integration with other processes.

To learn more

I encourage you to explore our content collection to dig more into the data, as well as view the industry and role specific data cuts we have available.