Organizations have long seen variances in performance – depending on what kind of company they are – across their affiliates, their stores, their sales teams, and other locations either within a country or multi-nationally. However, those organizations tend mostly to focus on financial performance variation. So they know that store A, for example, outperforms store B and compare or rank their stores based on certain performance metrics (again, mostly financial).

But what if the focus was not only on “financial” metrics, but rather on what AC calls “essential” metrics such as employee and customer engagement, or the employee-customer interaction experience? We contend, based on years of experience and grounded on scientific research conducted over the past two decades, that it is those “essential” metrics that differentiate high-performing with average or low-performing companies. Want to become world-class? Then measure the right essential metrics!

You may have heard the saying “happy employees lead to happy customers”, popularised by Richard Branson of Virgin Companies. And, in fact, we kind of all know that there is some or a lot of truth in that saying. Many HR executives will readily say that engaged employees lead to engaged customers. But what about the other parts of the organization? What is the CFO looking at? What is the CEO focussed on? What about shareholders or investors? They’re probably still watching the “numbers”, but possibly not paying attention to the real drivers of those numbers.

How do companies benefit from focussing on their people-driven essential metrics? Our experience and case studies have shown significant improvements in lower unwanted attrition rates, overall improvement in company culture, fewer employee sick days, higher productivity, higher revenue, higher profitability, and margins as well as higher customer engagement. We think these outcomes are worth having during the Great Resignation!

We at AC take a markedly different approach to measure performance metrics. Yes, we too are still watching the financial metrics, but we also incorporate essential metrics as well. Those essential metrics are the state of employee engagement and the customer experience. While other companies view financial statements as the sole success indicator, we take a closer look at what the essential metrics around employees and customers are saying about those financial metrics. In fact, we have often discovered that the essential metrics are actually lead indicators for financial performance!

Should you be interested in learning more, contact us through the normal channels and we will set up a free initial assessment of your situation and possible challenges in order to get to know you and learn more about your company. In the meantime, remember what’s really essential…!

Gerald Wood