Listen up, corporate comrades! Your company is growing bigger and it’s time to start measuring more than just your customer acquisition costs and return on capital. Sure, those numbers might make shareholders happy, but what about employees? If you really care about the health of your organization, it’s time to start measuring metrics that reflect the well-being of your internal operations. And no, we’re not just talking about the number of ping-pong tables in the break room or how many free snacks are provided. We’re talking about metrics that really matter. Here are ten to get you thinking. Even if your organization rejects them, my hope is that they will serve as a catalyst for discussions about some of the hidden forms of waste that are pervasive in most large companies.
1. Manager Half-Life
Manager half-life is the amount of time it takes for half the employees to report to a new manager. It’s the perfect metric for measuring the rate at which your employees’ “will to live” decays due to excessive management churn. Changes in management take time and effort away from work as new managers and employees learn how to work together and establish new relationships. While there are ways to reduce the amount of time spent storming and norming, most people just muddle through without much thought toward making the change process effective and efficient.
