Metrics motivate performance and behaviours

From a quality perspective, the perception of the value of a process – and its opportunities for improvement – are often based on the metrics and data collected as an outcome of how closely we align to the process, or the results we gain at the end of the process.

Though quality goals, and goals in general are important, they are one of many objectives that impact our lives and working practices. Businesses set their own metrics that align with their strategies and goals, around finance, customer perception/experience, or sales growth. People also set their own around personal development or their hierarchy of needs.

Powerful motivators

When setting metrics, we often overlook the behaviours they inspire and actions that will be taken to achieve them. Goals are powerful motivators for our decision-making processes. The associated rewards from achieving them factor into how far the person will go, what they will sacrifice, and how they will change in order to succeed.

This mirrors our own personal value hierarchy. We have all experienced being ‘upsold’ an item or service – typically some form of cover or insurance – that rarely provides us with any clear value. So why do you get asked these types of upselling questions?

Put simply – because businesses dictate that they are asked. This is often reinforced through the employees’ personal goals, or store/shop/business unit targets given by the higher-level business that affects the employee's perception and earning power.

There is a clear distinction between being made aware of a feature and being coerced. As businesses begin to get ‘smarter’, however, these lines are becoming blurred, sacrificing the quality of the purchasing experience.

In his book Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement, James Vincent cites a stark and impactful example of the US military using body count as a defined measure of success during its Vietnam war campaign as territory, that usual demarcation of success, was not possible due to the guerrilla warfare being employed.

Thankfully, it is thought the counts provided were overinflated, with many soldiers giving incorrect numbers to satisfy senior leadership.

So what can we stand to learn from this poignant example?

1. Some people will inflate, obscure, adjust or outright lie to ‘meet’ targets.
2. Some people will go far above and beyond to exceed their targets, finding loopholes and technicalities.
3. Those who question the validity of the metrics’ efficacy or usefulness may not speak up or may be ignored.
4. Creating environments or initiatives to support metric achievement can further embed unsuitable practices and incentivise behaviours and actions.

We always have a choice, even when one option goes against our beliefs and values. For example, a secondary gain of people in senior positions laying down directives, initiatives and metrics is a perceived ‘removal’ from responsibility or accountability for the people following.

We also look to our peers, and groupthink/collective subconsciousness begins to take root. Though parents joke "if your friend did X, would you?", the answers is often "Yes" – you would. Though we may not see this demonstrated so clearly at a business level, the principles remain the same.

"Businesses have a clear ethical responsibility to their society and employees through the setting of culturally beneficial and socially responsible goals and metrics. How, then, are people inspired and motivated?"

Ryan Renard CQP FCQI

This is part of the reason senior leaders have such a strong influence within business – they define what is and isn’t acceptable, acting as the example for others. Do not expect more from others than you do from yourself.

Ethical responsibility

Businesses have a clear ethical responsibility to their society and employees through the setting of culturally beneficial and socially responsible goals and metrics. How, then, are people inspired and motivated?

In short, extrinsic rewards do not work – intrinsic should be our focus. Motivation 3.0, as defined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive, discusses three key elements of what drives us:

1. Autonomy: the impulse that leads us to direct our decisions internally.
2. Mastery: the desire to be the best in something – a skill, aptitude or competition.
3. Purpose: what moves us to do what we do in the service of something greater than ourselves.

To provide people with autonomy, quality goals need to be subconscious and ingrained in the business culture.

To allow for mastery, quality needs to support and provide learning opportunities – who doesn’t need problem solving or continuous improvement skills?

To facilitate purpose, quality needs to have a ‘why’ and provide clearly defined roles for staff that are far greater than themselves. Ask yourself, what does quality mean to your own organisation?

Measuring success

Now we have clear tools to motivate people to lead quality, we can address the underlying issue of what are the ‘right’ metrics to know we are successful.

As with any moral system, our checks and balances are displayed in our level of self-awareness at a business level. This self-awareness is a prerequisite that enables us to identify areas of improvement or problems.

Take the example of an anonymous reporting system within a business. The purpose of this system is to build and develop a just culture (fair and open reporting) and remove information flow issues at a middle-management level, reporting directly to senior leadership. We can choose to motivate people by using the number of reports submitted – though maximum targets demotivate reporting; minimum targets motivate inaccurate or unfounded reporting.

To achieve a just culture, the place we need to focus is an area that demonstrates trust – whether the names are provided or, even better, whether the reports were provided in person to identified, responsible person(s).

This metric motivates the business to support staff and encourage people to want to be identified – in turn, being able to support the change needed within the business with additional information or actions.

Be aware, however, that this will take time to build and trust is lost easily – be open, congruent and authentic with others and they will be with you.

What behaviours and actions do the current metrics within your business inspire and motivate? How can they be changed and reframed to support a defined culture and provide autonomy, mastery and purpose? How can you use these models to benefit your own daily lives?