ORLANDO, Fla. — One of the most essential requirements of a manager is to keep his or her employees motivated and productive. Incorporating business metrics may improve a company’s productivity, day-to-day operations and potentially, the bottom line, according to Joseph Sansone, CPO, chief executive officer of TMC Orthopedic.
Business metrics are any graph or chart that informs you about business, according to Sansone. Before incorporating business metrics into a company, a manager must determine what should be measured, the parameters of the measurements and the proper length of time to measure.
Sansone showed the audience at the 2010 AOPA National Assembly actual graphs and charts from his company. He said he wanted to chart the productivity of his employees. In order to do this, he measured the punctuality of their practitioners, patient’s waiting room wait time, collection percentage and which employees were seeing the most patients. He then input the information into a spreadsheet and created bar graphs and line graphs that compared the productivity of practitioners in the facility for each fiscal quarter.
If your company operates multiple facilities, business metrics can determine which facility is bringing in the most money and which needs the most improvement. Businesses metrics help determine how a manager or business owner should allocate his or her time. If patients are waiting an average of 35 minutes per visit, a manager will know to emphasize efficiency when they call, e-mail or visit that facility.
“The most important thing with metrics is making sure these numbers get back to the employees,” Sansone said. “It is not enough to obtain this information. You have to publish these results.”
According to Sansone, publishing the results will motivate employees to improve. Studies have shown that tracking and sharing business metrics results can increase productivity and desired activity by as much as 20%, according to Sansone.
“Business metrics allow me to keep my finger on the pulse of my business,” Sansone said. “I do not need to wait for someone to quit in order for me to open my eyes.”
