What is the difference between kpis and objectives

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Learn more about this course. View transcript. So I think my goal was to have something for myself. Imagine you need to be at a meeting by 3pm and you are 30 miles away. You have cut things a bit fine. One useful indicator might be your speed of travel. However, if you are heading in the wrong direction, this is not very useful to you.

You need the direction too. So make sure you test that you are getting the information you need before you start relying on it. However, some organizations have their own definitions of each. Aims are the other side of targets from objectives, in that they seem less precise or firm. Using the two together in a coordinated effort will help you set, track, modify and evaluate your business strategies and improve your bottom line.

When you set goals, they are either outcome-oriented or performance-oriented. An outcome goal is an end result you want, such as a sales volume, number of units produced or profit. A performance goal is an objective that helps you improve the way you reach outcome goals. For example, avoiding using overtime hours to produce your desired number of units or hitting your sales volumes using more in-house phone calls rather than costly road trips are examples of performance goals. Performance goals often provide less measurable results than outcome goals, but it's important to add them to your management efforts.

To do this, use historic results as your starting point. This is specific because it focuses on employee turnover. SMART goals turn everyone into well-oiled task-completing machines, incapable of leaving a job half-done!

The employees then update their progress as they go along, so a manager can dip in whenever they want and get a real-time assessment of how their staff are getting on. You can also keep track of departmental and organisational objectives. These are visible to everyone so that they can see how their own Objectives alight with those of the business. And what performance management tool would be complete without an Objectives and KPIs section? Using our system, an employee can set their own individual objectives and KPIs.

Keen to find out more about KPIs and how to they can help you to gain long-lasting behaviour change? Check our article today! Use the power of engagement, behavioural science and learning best practice to drive real results.