KPI's and a drive-thru

Ever wondered why you’re sent to a waiting bay at quick service restaurants (QSR’s – fast food) even when the drive-thru is empty? I recently visited a fast food restaurant and decided to order via the drive-thru. It made me consider the relevance of KPI’s in general.

After ordering and paying, I was told to head out of the drive-way and park in the car park as the items where (supposedly) 2-3 minutes away. I looked in my mirror and the drive-thru was empty. I said to the lady I was happy to wait here at the window and if a car came, I would move off if that made it easier. Her instant reply was ‘oh no, we have a timer here and I get in trouble if a car is waiting too long’.

Clear as day the QSR had KPI’s to hit and in this case, I would have been a poor stat if indeed my order couldn’t be cleared off the system as served within the appropriate time. In the end I waited 14 minutes for my order and of course, it would have reflected very poorly on the store if indeed it was recorded.

It made me consider KPI’s in the work place and how often are KPI’s not owned by our teams or even us. Like the QSR, do our teams find shortcuts to ensure the KPI is met? At the end of the day a KPI is set to achieve a goal however, if the goal is not owned or believed in, sooner or later, someone will find a way to ‘work the system’. This entire premise obstructs the high performing culture that the KPI’s are created for in the first place.

In almost all cases a KPI goes hand in hand with a line on the P&L. At a budget meeting or business review a target is set and the agreement on KPI’s is completed which, all agree if successful, will result in the budgeted number being hit. To the unsavvy manager he looks at the KPI and declares all problems as solved however, what they don’t know is the achievement of the KPI is often not realised on the P&L. Fast forward to a business review and the manager is pitching another program which this time he is sure will aid him in reaching the desired targets.

Relating this to my real-life example at the drive thru only 1 reason is possible for me in the situation I was on the wrong end of.

1.      A culture of ensuring the KPI’s look good regardless of physical outcomes.

This culture thing has me thinking as I reflect on cultures I am harvesting and trying to embed. I believe if the manager and his team cannot reach a target (for whatever reason) the worst they can do is ‘fudge’ the figures. Sometimes in the workplace we may be fearful that should we flag with our own manager a shortcoming (going to miss a KPI), they would perceive us as incompetent. In this case, I would suggest without the absolute trust in your managers opinion and experience its detrimental to the both of you (yes both of you, your manager’s success is your success). If you are short on a target get on the phone and ask your manager what they would do in this situation and how they can aid.

The best success I’ve had with KPI’s is when the team comes up with them. In some cases, entire teams, or even managers, aren’t privy to total long-term goals of the business however, in all cases they can feel empowered enough to help in contributing to KPI’s that point toward a company or departmental goal. A good leader will guide a team through the understanding and total ownership of KPI’s contributing to the goals. 

Don’t be like my lazy drive-thru visit and be on the wrong end of a dodgy KPI. While all KPI’s start with the right intentions it’s the guys on the floor (front-line) that determine your outcome – and remember a positive KPI outcome can still end in a poor result!

Daniel Byrom