Can You Really Drive Sales By Measuring Activities?

A popular way to measure your business is to measure inputs, things you do, or activities. For example, if you are in the semi-conductor business and you want to produce 10 million high quality chips a month, you measure how many wafers are cut per hour, how many wet etchings you did per day, or how many molecular beam epitaxies you did in a week. We all know that the more you make per time period, the higher the quality the output will be, right? Supervisors watch closely as their employees process more and more wafers, faster and faster. “You can do one more!”

“Oh sir…it’s only wafer thin”

But what is really happening as managers and their staff seek ever more output? Those being measured find ways to get the task done faster; and this usually has ramifications down the line. As quantity is increased, a corresponding offset in quality must take place. Putting the right measures in place is critical for any business. Otherwise, you are motivating your employees to prioritize the wrong …