While there are many important internal business metrics regarding
finances and sales, a new and equally important internal focus is on
employees. We are starting to see a shift in businesses from being
shareholder driven to a more employee driven focus. a A large part of
this was because of COVID and high rates of employees leaving jobs
due to overall dissatisfaction in the workplace. Even prior to COVID,
a lot of companies were already using internal communications to
send out surveys that rate things like employee morale, satisfaction in
jobs, faith in the company and management, and effectiveness in
internal communications. A company with a high turnover rate loses
money on consistently having to train new employees. Internal
communications such as exit interview questions and period surveys
help management to see where issues might be originating from so
that changes can be made to improve turnover rates. a With
departments that have low productivity levels, these periodic surveys
can also help determine if the concern is for the overall health of the
company or if the issue is an internal communication problem within
the department. a Using the data from prior surveys as a benchmark,
management can evaluate the overall employee health and morale of
the company. a Another important internal communication that has
measurable metrics are employee check-ins. Done at the minimum of
annually, employee performance is discussed, rated, and metrics are
then used to base employee raises and bonuses.
Surveys can also be used externally for products and services provide
by companies. Similar to internal surveys, customer surveys are used
to rate product satisfaction and reliability using metrics that can be
compared to actual sales, returns, and warranty expenses. a However
most external communication initiatives have further reach and more
measurable metrics than internal ones. a Like it is stated in the article
“What rare Business Metrics?”, external metrics can be used in social
media to track followers and interactions, marketing to determine
performance of campaigns, and SaaS (software as a service) customer
retention. a (Klipfolio.com, 2023)
The business environment of the organization is important when
focusing on metrics because of the sheer diversity of business. a A
metric involving social media interaction would not be relevant for a
company that manufactures and sells parts to medical equipment
repair companies. a Instead that company would focus more on
production and sales metrics because they are not necessarily
interested in an online social media presence. The same could be said
for most production companies that don’t sell to the general public.
For metrics to be useful, they have to be quantifiable and useful to
the business and tracking performance and goal status. a
(Klipfolio.com, 2023)
Klipfolio.com. (2023, April 9). What are business metrics?. Klipfolio.
https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-are-business-
metrics
