The Importance of Measurement in the Accoutability Measurement Coaching Equation - Part 1

When I first joined Superior Access, I expected to see very little measurement at all. I was shocked to find they had measurement both for the overall organization and for every role in it. In past roles, I had to help create the measurements needed to drive results, and when I say measurments, I mean counter balancing metrics at every level, from front line staff to head of the department. So when I saw this wealth of data I felt I had walked into an organization the had to be getting top results. But I quickly found out there was not the case and for good reason.

In this weeks post, part 1, I'm going to walk through the relationship between Measurement and Accountability.

Poor organizations measure very little. Mediocre organizations measure mostly the wrong things. Good organizations measure everything and they get the key metrics mostly right. Great organzitions measure the key metrics to drive the business forward and link it to the accountability at every level of the organization.

Superior Access was measuring everything and most of the right key metrics...but none of it was linked to the staff itself. So what do I mean by that. The leadership team saw the metrics of their individual underwriters and customer service reps. They saw the results of the overall team and they looked at the daily totals in a management meeting every single work day. So when I joined, as head of the team, I asked why aren't we geting better results? The team didn't have an answer. But I already knew the answer.

The answer was and is...if you measure everything, and even if everyone see's it, and it's not driven down to the individual level, its almost as if you have no measurement at all. No one feels accountable, no one feels ownership of the measurement.

Stay tuned for part 2 next week, where I talk about how we used measurement to put accountability back into the business.