For any business it is extremely important to align its employees, resources, digital systems, and business processes with high-level strategic and financial goals. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are proactively managing their performance through a variety of different tools and mechanisms. The overall market in UAE is very competitive, the economy is enormous comparing to the size of the country and it is growing exponentially. The success relies on better efficiency and intelligent strategies. Making formidable strategies is relatively easier but executing those strategies and making sure the entire enterprise performs as per the expectations is extremely difficult. Businesses mostly use performance management systems and frameworks to maximize the operational efficiency and to improve employee performance.A performance management system is a digital tool which is linked with the central information center of the organization, it fetch data from almost all systems and tools and produce performance data which can be analyzed to assess and evaluate the progress of the employees, departments, and different business functions towards the high-level organization goals.
The performance management system also works as an early warning system which can highlight the problems as soon as they occurs and even it can predict an upcoming disruption or problem and provide the management enough time to take decisive actions and preventive measures. Another benefit of a performance management system is that it provides a real-time performance data which enables the management to make adjustments, reset course and improve their strategies to make sure the employees and resources are aligned with the high-level organizational goal and objectives. The KPIs and KRAs are two major component of performance management. The KPI means Key Performance Indicators while KRA means Key Result/Responsibility Areas.
The KPI and KRA are two most important matrices which let businesses communicate their high-level goals and strategic needs and it also help them measure the progress, growth and success. Although the both may sound somewhat similar, but they are not. In this blog we will discuss how KPI and KRA are different and what a business can get from implementing these two performance management frameworks.
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What is a KPI (Key Performance Indicator)?
The KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator and it is sued to measure the high-level performance or achievement in fulfilling any objective. The high-level organizational goals and objectives are set which later divided into individual level goals and objectives and the KPIs are created or established for each objective. The business performance is measured or assessed on a particular time interval, usually it is one year, and it could also be on the bases of projects (given a project has a completion date) or lesser or more time period. It entirely depends on the business’s needs and business model. Once the KPIs are set the management or business owner can accurately track the performance. Usually the evaluation is done several time during the performance period and the final evaluation is done by the end of the performance period.
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The KPIs provides management with a better monitoring framework which not only enables them to boost the employee performance but also allow them to keep making adjustments and corrections during the performance period to make sure the objectives will be achieved by the end.
What is a KRA (Key Result/Responsibility Area)?
The KRA stands for Key Result/Responsibility Area and it is used to measure the results which are mainly based on the expectations from a particular job role. The KRA may also involve a direct evaluation of the contribution of the employee from portability or financial prospective as well. Basically each job role is defined clearly with a certain set of tasks and responsibilities that are expected from it. The KRA help businesses to accurately measure the progress and achievements with regard to those expectations. The biggest advantage of using KRA framework is that it clearly communicates the job role and responsibilities to the employees and also outline the expectations from them which induce passion and encourage employees to meet the demand of their job role. The KRA is a broad subject or topic where each individual should focus during their performance period.
As it is based on the job role, so for a manager from a production the KRA would be entirely different than the manager from customer service center and so on. Mostly the KRA track those areas where the employee have full ownership and is fully responsible although some job roles also have dependencies but majorly the employee is fully responsible and accountable for that task.
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The Difference between KPIs and KRAs
The KPI and KRA are intertwined and work side by side by aiding each other. The KPI is used to measure the performance while the KRA is sued to communicate the business goals and objectives more effectively and it explains the job role and expectations of the employee, which help them to perform better and their performance is measured with the KPI matrices. When the employees get a better understanding of their job role and responsibilities with the KRA they can perform well to achieve their targeted KPIs. Here are some key differences between the KPI and KRA:
- The KRA focus on the responsibilities and results and it covers the area of concern where an employee is put in-charge of
- The KPI is a quantifiable data which measures the progress towards the individual or organizational goals and objectives
- The KRA is used to define a job role or setup an areas of responsibility which is necessary to achieve the organizational goals
- The KPI is used to evaluate and assess the employee performance as per their job roles, and their contribution in achieving the organizational and individual goals
- The KRA is a qualitative matric and it is used to explain the range of the areas of interest where the employee’s performance is required to produce the desired results
- The KPI is quantitative matric which checks how successful or unsuccessful an employee was in performing in their designated areas or performance
- The KRA defines the areas where employee’s performance is needed
- The KPI measures the performance of the employees in the areas where it was needed
Businesses and organizations use both KPI and KRA to maximize their performance and to ensure they will achieve their organizational goals and objectives. The key difference between the KPI and KRA is that the both are used for different purposes, one is used with the aim of quality and the other with the aim of work efficiency. The primary goal is to maximize employee’s work efficiency and capabilities without compromising the quality, in fact the KRA instead help improving the work quality as well as the work efficiency. Although the KPIs are more widely used by businesses and businesses are producing almost same results with the KPIs as well, but with the additional aid from KRA framework implementation, the businesses can ensure they will get desired results all the time. Mostly the KRA are used when the ultimate quality of work is absolutely necessary. Some businesses also use KPIs in a much broader prospective while using KRA for only particular departments or employees.
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How KPI and KRA can be used to Achieve Organizational Goals?
For any business success is achieving their high-level organizational goals. These goals are set for a certain time period, after that time the final evaluation is done and the success or failure is measured and quantified. This is done to identify the strengths and weaknesses of any business and its assets, practices, methodologies, employees, infrastructure and everything in between. When a business or enterprise sets a high-level goal the next step is to prepare formidable strategy which can ensure your success in achieving these goals and objectives. For example, if a business has a goal to increase its profit by 5% by the end of next year. The strategy would include various factors that can and will produce the desired outcome which is 5% increase in the company profits. There are some constant factors such as tax, price of raw material, operational expenses and such which are difficult to change.
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However, by improving the efficiency of the sales teams the profit can be increased, or by simple cost reduction the profits can also be increased, usually the strategic plans doesn’t work like that, in fact it involves each and everything, such as improvement in the supply chain, marketing, sales, cost cuts and a combination of whole bunch of activities which could lead to a 5% increase in the profits goal. In order to ensure all departments, business functions and resources are aligned to the high-level organizational goals, both the KPI and KRA are used. The strategy leads to plans which define goals and targets for different hierarchy levels up to the individual employees following a top-down approach. The KRA help communicating the job roles and expectations from an individual employee which are necessary for critical success factors and key drivers for the success. The KPI are used to measure the employee performance and progress towards their individual goals, departmental and also organizational goals. That is how the KPI and KRA are used together to ensure the business performs well and achieve its strategic and financial goals which are critical for growth and profitability.
Advantage of a Digital Performance Management System for KPI and KRA
A digital performance management system is a software tool that provides a performance dashboard which allow the management to have a clear view of everything. The KPI and KRA are two performance matrices or frameworks, both are different and are usually used side by side. Implementing a performance management framework manually could make is extremely sophisticated, sloppy, complex and very ineffective. There are several challenges with manual performance management, such as the simplest and fundamental tasks of data collection, data analysis, flow of information and data sharing could become so time consuming and very difficult. The chances are either the information will reach too late or the data would contain discrepancies, errors and incomplete information. However, with a digital performance management software all these tasks can be automated from data collection to data analysis and preparing reports, everything can be automated. The real-time data can be made available for the managers and stakeholders.
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The performance management software also allow integration with central information center and various other business tools and enterprise solutions which enables it to automatically pull performance data from various feeds. The digital aspects speed up communication and increase employee engagements. Businesses can create their goals and implement strategies with a very flexible approach and can emend or update them at any given time during the performance management period. The enterprise performance management software usually comes with a tons of in-built templates along with customization features which allow management to prepare goals, implement strategies setup KPI, KRA, and/or OKR within no time. The data is highly accurate and in-built analytical tools allow the management to generate customized reports and visual and graphical presentations. The management can get all the data in a very intuitive and simple dashboard which allow them to continuously monitor everything and take timely actions to ensure everything and everyone remained aligned with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. Hence maximum performance can be achieved.
Conclusion
For any business the performance management is very crucial. Especially in the very competitive markets such as Dubai or in fact the entire UAE is a very competitive rapidly growing market. The high-level organizational goals are vital for any business’s success and growth. A performance management framework ensures that the higher management or business owners can view a full picture of what is going on in the organization. The performance management is a very complex and sophisticated task which can be made simpler and much more effective with a digital enterprise performance management software. The businesses can effectively communicate their high-level goals, increase employee engagements and boost their morale to achieve higher performance results. The business can reset course, make adjustments and update their strategies on a very micro level during the performance period to ensure that the organization will achieve its strategic and financial goals by the end of the performance period. The digital aspects can boost the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance management framework.
RSI Concepts is a leading performance management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you have an enquiry please contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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