KPIs Drive Your Labor and Your Business
There is once again an excellent blog post on the KPI Library, "Where Are The Predictive KPIs?" This article makes the argument that all KPIs can be used to help predict future performance, which runs counter to the prevailing assumption that there are two types of KPIs: lead or lag. An example the article's author, Stacey Barr, gives is that of customer satisfaction. Writes Barr, "Technically, Average Customer Satisfaction is a lag measure because it’s after the fact. But it can be predictive of Customer Retention Rate, New Customers Via Referrals, and Profit."
As applied to Time & Attendance, the same principles are in force. tracking productivity of employees on particular types of tasks helps to predict the number of like tasks in the future the employees will be able to complete. Tracking absenteeism trends helps to predict where the company may need to staff up in the future. While Time & Attendance systems typically are viewed as methods to track "lag" KPSs, Ms. Barr's assertion that all KPIs can be used to help predict future performance seems right on the mark. And by developing consistent systems to track in detail the KPIs that best help predict future performance, companies can take significant steps toward improving productivity and increasing profits.