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Critical Metrics for Established Companies: Case Study

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Case Study One:

A multi-national organization was struggling with a lack of internal customer focus from its support areas (e.g., Human Resources, Finance and Operations). One of their strategic objectives was to improve this focus. Critical Metrics helped the client to develop an ongoing program to track and improve internal client focus and satisfaction.

Critical Metrics developed an on-line survey that was administered to a representative sample of managers. The survey results were reported for the overall organization as well as for each respective functional area. Key themes were extracted from a multitude of open-ended comments addressing recommendations for how the each functional area could improve, and were presented to the client in a convenient and easy to understand manner.

Having an ongoing program to track the organization�s progress allowed the client to look at progress over time. To spur the organization to act on findings in a timely and appropriate manner, accountabilities were created. Several key metrics were selected from the survey and integrated into the organization�s goal-setting program.

The survey has not remained static but has evolved after continual assessment of aspects that help or hinder the gathering of feedback. Critical Metrics gradually helped make the survey more customer-focused by shortening the survey and simplifying reporting requirements. As a result, response rates have improved from year to year.

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Case Study Two:

The communication department of a financial services firm was charged with evaluating the impact of its communication efforts. Critical Metrics was retained to help them administer and analyze responses from a communication survey. The focused nature of the survey allowed for a detailed and informative analysis of all aspects of communication within the firm. Aware that views on the same issues can vary widely within a firm depending on one�s position and other factors, we presented both overall findings and findings broken down by organizational and demographic groups.

Critical Metrics helped the firm pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of internal communication, and brought the firm�s attention to areas where employees� lack of resource awareness or understanding needed to be addressed.

As a result of Critical Metrics� analysis, the company learned of the manner and frequency with which its employees used the resources offered to them. It also received helpful feedback on how various new media initiatives would be received by employees if they were to be implemented�which initiatives had a high chance to succeed and which did not. This type of information saved the firm from wasting resources on initiatives which may have only received a lukewarm reception from the firm�s employees.

The firm also benefited from having administered its communication survey two years in a row. A comparison of the results over time showed the company how effectively it had acted on the findings of the previous year.

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Case Study Three:

A financial services firm sought to better understand drivers of voluntary turnover and employee engagement. A second objective was to assess managers in order to determine what makes managers effective. To meet these objectives, Critical Metrics integrated and analyzed responses to various surveys and other sources of data.

Drivers of Actual Turnover and Employee Engagement

Responses from past employee surveys were linked with actual turnover data in order to identify key drivers of turnover. When tenure was controlled for, the survey categories of My Performance, Employee Engagement, and Intent to Stay were the three main drivers of voluntary turnover (see Figure 1 below). In other words, people who actually voluntarily left the organization tended to have less favorable ratings on the My Performance and Engagement dimensions of the survey, as well as lower intentions of staying with the firm.

The top key driver of employee engagement was the company’s Mission and Guiding Principles, which measured employee perceptions of respectful and fair treatment and focus on excellence. Results indicated that employee engagement varied depending on job title, which suggested that differing approaches to increasing employee engagement were needed for different levels of employees.


Drivers of Managerial Effectiveness

To assess what it meant to be an effective manager within this organization, information on company managers was collected and analyzed. Results revealed several pertinent differences between average-performing and high-performing managers. Specifically, the most effective managers were more likely to receive higher managerial ratings, promote career growth and development in their employees, manage performance effectively, and treat employees with fairness and respect while encouraging them to strive for excellence. High-performing managers also had lower voluntary turnover among their employees (see Figure 2 below).



Managers were also categorized based on the engagement levels of their employees. Managers of the more engaged employees reported having more favorable experiences around their work, their line of business and its leaders, and performance management. Additionally, highly engaged employees’ ratings were more favorable on all survey dimensions, and there was higher retention among these groups (see Figure 3 below). As illustrated, better managers increasingly did a better job of holding onto employees over time.



Conclusions

Results from the key driver analyses highlighted several areas in need of further consideration and led to several useful suggestions for areas of improvement.

First, the organization was encouraged to reconsider the relationship between performance and compensation, fairness perceptions of rewards, and the utility of performance feedback. Second, these analyses allowed the organization to identify specific high performing managers and the building blocks of their success. Critical Metrics suggested that conducting focus groups or interviews with these managers might uncover internal best practices that can be implemented firm-wide. Third, performance management emerged as a critical driver of managerial effectiveness, actual turnover, and employee engagement. To help bolster the firm’s retention and managerial effectiveness efforts, Critical Metrics suggested that a thorough review of the performance management system should be explored. This is especially warranted given that some items in this dimension received less favorable ratings. Specifically, employees did not perceive a clear link between job performance and cash compensation, were not likely to report receiving praise for their contributions, and did not feel they were fairly rewarded for their contributions and achievements.

Overall, Critical Metrics has helped this organization to uncover and quantify several key factors that were inhibiting greater employee retention and managerial success.