Crisis and recession KPIs, Scorecard, Metrics

With the appropriate metrics outlined, any suffering company would definitely be on the right path towards improved performance management through recession metrics implemented.

Recession indeed presents a very difficult time for any existing enterprise in today’s corporate world and no company is exempted from this at all. Thus, it is a must for every company to know how to implement the right metric set for this very trying period. Performance management through recession metrics implemented is indeed a must.

If there is one thing that is hard to maintain in any company during this extremely trying and frustrating period, it would be employee morale. Yes, employee morale would certainly degrade – and at an exponential rate as well – thereby presenting quite the leadership challenge in any existing company or organization. Your metrics should then be geared towards this.

On the surface, companies would expect any employee who survived inevitable retrenchment due to cost-cutting to feel grateful that he or she has been spared. Yes, there would be that grateful feeling still; however, evidence pertaining to past recession periods strongly suggest that it does not take too long for the remaining employees to feel overworked and still vulnerable, even threatened, at the possibility that they could still end up losing their jobs. Thus, even if they surpassed the survival of the fittest stage, their morale would still suffer ultimately. And any company with dwindling employee morale better prepare because things would definitely take a turn for the worse.

Just how worse can things be? Have you heard of recession fatigue? This is actually the scenario wherein companies experience problems happening consecutively. This include deteriorating customer service, falling sales, a significant decline in productivity, higher costs, increased sick days, as well as lower profits. To battle recession fatigue successfully, companies should then take a proactive strategy to the problem at hand.

Communication should definitely be one of the focus points of your recession metrics. Open communication should be administered because without this, the informal grapevine would then be the ultimate source of havoc in the company. Anxiety levels would be raised and the employees themselves would feel detached and angry because they are not being told everything that has been going on under their noses. Eventual resignation is inevitable for the most part here.

The restructuring of the organization should also be included in your metric set. Downsizing is inevitable so there will certainly be a lot of people that the company would have to let go. But the work does not stop there. After downsizing and letting employees go, there should then be a procedure for transition implemented for it is not only the employees let go who are experiencing low morale – the ones left behind are experiencing this, too. More importantly, the employees left behind are the ones who need to do more work with fewer resources so they might need to work longer hours and shorter days – to maximize time and cut costs. Thus, the restructuring of the organization and the workforce should be done systematically so that employee morale would not be made to suffer more.

Recession is really a very unfortunate event that we all have to go through this time. As long as you keep to the idea of implementing the appropriate metrics, then you would certainly be on the path towards better performance management through recession metrics.

Crisis Scorecard Articles about Crisis Metrics, Performance Management, Recession

Performance management during economic downturn seems a lost cause these days. However, this need not be the case with the help of the implementation of recession KPIs.

We all know how the concept of performance management during economic downturn can be a bit hazy, especially today when the effects of recession are now being felt all over the world. All sorts of companies and industries are affected by this financial bind that we have found ourselves in. What is worse is the fact that this economic recession we find ourselves in is not about to end anytime soon. We are not even at the lowest point yet, as claimed by expert analysts. With all the bad things going on around you and with nearly everything falling apart in your own enterprise, could there still be something that you could do? Yes, there actually are a few things that you can do to somewhat alleviate this difficult situation. The most important of your options is actually the implementation of recession KPIs or key performance indicators. Recession KPIs can indeed help you maintain a more stable performance for your enterprise.

So, how then can you do this? The first step is to take on a fresh perspective of all sorts of problems circulating in your enterprise. By all problems, we mean both the internal and the external ones. When examining these problems, make sure to look out for every possible cause behind each one of them. Look for both the qualitative and the quantitative ones. Quantitative signs could include the company’s inability to meet standard set forecasts, declining market margins or market shares, declining sales, as well as an increasing number of short-term debts.

Qualitative signs, meanwhile, can include high employee turnover, high management turnover, and degradation of the enterprise’s market value. The last sign can be either real or perceived. However, this remains extremely important no matter the nature of the sign because it affects the psyche of the enterprise’s workforce. If employees perceive that the market value of the company is degrading, then they would not hesitate to start looking elsewhere for greener and safer pastures. This then makes performance management much harder to achieve. A lot worse could definitely happen if the last sign is indeed real, not just perceived. All the more would employees leave the enterprise for greener pastures willingly.

After identifying internal and external issues, you should then check the IT systems currently being used in your company. Are these systems still working efficiently? Is the information they provide still relevant – to the extent that they can be relied on to based good decisions from? This is exactly where KPIs are the most needed. Now, do not make the mistake of assuming that the KPIs you once used would still be effective. There are significant changes that have surfaced so these KPIs need much revamping as well. Do not go for broke with the number of KPIs to use. Just go for a significant few, roughly five in number.

With the causes of all issues determined, plans of action can then be developed. Usually, senior management members would be the ones responsible for the development of strategies as well as the communicating of these strategies to investors, stakeholders, and the employees themselves. However, to maintain an unbiased perspective, it is recommended to hand this task over to an external advisor or consultant.

Recession KPIs can definitely help when it comes to performance management during economic downturn. The process may take long but it will certainly be worth your while.

Crisis Scorecard Articles about Crisis economic downturn, Performance Management, Recession