KPI (Key Performance Indicators) vs. Objectives

Hello Friends

Can some one please differentiate between KPI and objectives with an examlple. Little bit confused here as I feel they both mean pretty much the same.

One of our company objective is to aim for zero accidents at site
What KPI would you define in this situation.

Thanks in advance

Re: KPI vs objectives

Thelearner said:

Hello Friends

Can some one please differentiate between KPI and objectives with an examlple. Little bit confused here as I feel they both mean pretty much the same.

One of our company objective is to aim for zero accidents at site
What KPI would you define in this situation.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

They are not same.

Objectives are the goals and KPIs are the indicators to evaluate or measure the progress you make in the journey towards achieving the objectives.

2. Your company's objective is to aim for 'Zero accidents'. You first have to prepare a road-map for achieving this objective, and then determine your KPIs.

Umang

Re: KPI vs objectives

Thelearner said:

Hello Friends

Can some one please differentiate between KPI and objectives with an examlple. Little bit confused here as I feel they both mean pretty much the same.

One of our company objective is to aim for zero accidents at site
What KPI would you define in this situation.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Some organisations use the terms differently - objective is what you aim for, KPI is how you measure it. BUT some organisation use the term 'KPI' to mean the same as an objective (or goal or aim).

In your example above, the KPI could be 'number of incidents'. Or zero. Your company might decide to include 'number of near misses' as a KPI also, so while your accidents might = 0, if near misses = 30, there's still a problem!

There are no standardised terms, you see, so companies decide for themselves what to call them. And sometimes argue fiercely about it. Provided you know what you mean by the terms, and everyone in your organisation uses them to mean the same thing, you'll be fine.

Re: KPI vs objectives

Thelearner said:

Hello Friends

Can some one please differentiate between KPI and objectives with an examlple. Little bit confused here as I feel they both mean pretty much the same.

One of our company objective is to aim for zero accidents at site
What KPI would you define in this situation.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Objective is the intent and KPI is the measure. A good objective can have the KPI stated within.
Have a display board which shows to everyone " Number of days since last accident "

Re: KPI vs objectives

somashekar said:

Objective is the intent and KPI is the measure. A good objective can have the KPI stated within.

Click to expand...

Excellent answer.

Thelearner said:

Hello Friends

One of our company objective is to aim for zero accidents at site
What KPI would you define in this situation.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

The objective is "zero accidents at site" The objective is concise, achievable and measurable.

Now the KPI describes how are you going to achieve your objective. Each KPI needs to be concise, achievable, measurable, time bound and defined responsibility.

For the "zero accidents" KPI I would set the following KPI's:

• Define person who will run the project
• If they do not have the relevant knowledge or experience, get the necessary training from XYZ.
• Perform an in-depth hazard analysis outlining possible safety issues or potential issues.
• based on the hazard analysis, devise procedures / engineering solutions to minimize the risks.
• Provide training and assessment of relevant staff.

Each of the KPI's should be managed as a small sub project of which the goal is to achieve zero accidents.

zamclachia said:

The objective is "zero accidents at site" The objective is concise, achievable and measurable.

Now the KPI describes how are you going to achieve your objective. Each KPI needs to be concise, achievable, measurable, time bound and defined responsibility.

For the "zero accidents" KPI I would set the following KPI's:

• Define person who will run the project
• If they do not have the relevant knowledge or experience, get the necessary training from XYZ.
• Perform an in-depth hazard analysis outlining possible safety issues or potential issues.
• based on the hazard analysis, devise procedures / engineering solutions to minimize the risks.
• Provide training and assessment of relevant staff.

Each of the KPI's should be managed as a small sub project of which the goal is to achieve zero accidents.

Click to expand...

I think you've provided some good advice, but we don't know if the objective is achievable or not, and I think your list is of things that need to be done in order to accomplish the goal, but they aren't KPIs (measurands that provide data regarding movement towards the objective). In this case I think KPIs are fairly simple to identify: number of accidents and number of "incidents" or near-misses.

Jim Wynne said:

I think your list is of things that need to be done in order to accomplish the goal, .

Click to expand...

This is what is used to set the KPI's for an individual. The KPI is the task that is set to achieve the final objective. The KPI's are the HOW part of the objective. How do we achieve zero injuries?

zamclachia said:

This is what is used to set the KPI's for an individual. The KPI is the task that is set to achieve the final objective. The KPI's are the HOW part of the objective. How do we achieve zero injuries?

Click to expand...

I suppose this is one of those things where the definition changes to suit a user's purpose, but I think most people think of KPIs as that part of the "voice of the process" that can be measured to track progress towards the objective. In this sense, a KPI isn't a task, but a way to measure progress. If the objective is zero accidents, simply knowing that a risk analysis has been done and prevention measures have been installed doesn't tell us what effect they've had on prevention of accidents. You need a KPI to tell you whether the tasks you've listed have been effective or not.

zamclachia said:

The objective is "zero accidents at site" The objective is concise, achievable and measurable.

Now the KPI describes how are you going to achieve your objective. Each KPI needs to be concise, achievable, measurable, time bound and defined responsibility.

For the "zero accidents" KPI I would set the following KPI's:

• Define person who will run the project
• If they do not have the relevant knowledge or experience, get the necessary training from XYZ.
• Perform an in-depth hazard analysis outlining possible safety issues or potential issues.
• based on the hazard analysis, devise procedures / engineering solutions to minimize the risks.
• Provide training and assessment of relevant staff.

Each of the KPI's should be managed as a small sub project of which the goal is to achieve zero accidents.

Click to expand...

As Jim has rightly said they are not KPIs since they can't be measured. If these are indicators, what do they indicate? What's 'key' in them? What is the performance measurand against which to evaluate the current performance and future indications (predictions)?

Contrary to above, if you define a KPI, e.g. as 'reducing the risk level of 25% of the high level hazards from 'intolerable' to an 'acceptable' level by putting up engineering controls'.....Here in addition to the target itself, both the 'intolerable' as well as the 'acceptable' risk levels are also measurable against the regulatory or organizational norms. Reducing the severity/risk of the high level hazards is 'key' to the success of your OHS program, i.e. achievement of 'zero injury' level.