Manage the pain and feel the gain

'No pain, no gain' is one such often repeated mantra. Originally conceived by fitness fanatics, it was quickly taken up by management consultants to describe the effects of the continuous battle that many companies experience.

And, like all of these cliches, there is a lot of truth contained in these four words. That truth is mainly to do with performance measurement for effective change management.

Many companies rise to the challenges of a rapidly changing environment. They do their analysis, set their business goals, make their plans, execute them, evaluate the outcomes, then start all over again in the quest for continuous improvement. Others do not. For them, change can be so disruptive that it tears them apart or at best brings about a sense of chaos that is resisted by those most affected.

Effective change management is the process of introducing relatively small change initiatives that involve the redesign and reconfiguration of existing processes or, in some cases, introducing new ones. It's about looking at the way you do things and doing them more effectively and efficiently. Picking the right things to change, then changing them properly.

The path to change
In order to manage change effectively, you need the right goals and measures. The goals are important because you can use a lot of resources (people and money) trying to meet them. The PAIN is worth it if the goals are:

Profitable (worthwhile; positive benefit/cost);
Attainable (can reasonably be achieved);
Important (necessary and motivating);
Numerical (you need a number to measure your success).

If you reach your goals you have your gain.

So, where to start? One of the problems most frequently encountered by building services firms is actually getting started in the measurement process. They are frequently fighting against time to get work in or completed. And, if they are unsure of the process, they just don't seem able to make the time to look at the materials that are designed to help them understand what they must do.

Help is at hand. Building Services Best Practice (BSBP) has recently introduced a free downloadable booklet entitled Why measure: a guide to performance measurement and benchmarking for building services companies. This is designed to demystify the performance measurement process for those who have not done it before; explain the different types of performance measurement that are available; and provide easy directions towards useful and useable help.

This leads to the next question – what should you measure? This will vary in detail between businesses, but essentially for a balanced view of the business you should monitor a range of indicators, typically including customer-related measures such as satisfaction; financial measures such as profitability; and business process measures such as quality.

Bearing in mind that you are going to have to act on the results, don't try to measure too many things to start with. Select a few key areas and focus on them. If you know, for example, that you have a problem with predicting cost and time on projects, start with these issues. If you have a high number of customer complaints, look at the underlying reasons and measure these.

If you're not sure which part of your business to focus on, use one of the national benchmarking schemes as an initial health check to highlight areas for improvement and help you set your own targets. These schemes have already identified the key issues for most businesses.

If you are just starting out on your performance measurement journey you should adopt a set of key performance indicators (KPIs). Even if you choose not to compare your performance with others at first, you will be working to standard definitions that will make it straightforward to benchmark later.

The difference between performance measurement and benchmarking is that the latter involves comparing your performance with others. Benchmarking adds another dimension to performance measurement as it will give you insights into your competitors' achievements and can help you set your own improvement targets. For benchmarking to be meaningful, firms need to compare like with like, so each benchmarking scheme has a precise definition of individual performance indicators.

It is important to note that while performance measurement in general and benchmarking in particular concern performance improvement, they are not about cost cutting. If they are perceived as such in the early stages of implementation, there is a real danger that internal motivation, goodwill and co-operation will be adversely affected. If benchmark-based improvements do provide cost savings, through process improvement or eradication of waste, for example, these are the result rather than the means.

A successful approach to change management must be pragmatic in outlook and have as its primary objective the creation of a climate of continuous improvement. This involves a clear focus on the business, the market and the bottom line.

In summary, to achieve success or gain within a business will inevitably involve some pain. This can be minimised if the following best practice guidelines are adopted:

• commit to the philosophy of continuous change throughout your organisation;
  
• involve the people who will make or be affected by the changes;
  
• understand your customers' needs and business processes;
  
• identify the right performance indicators to measure and benchmark;
  
• take small steps, focusing on a few key processes initially;
  
• make the measurements objective and the measures appropriate and comparable;
  
• be honest in your assessment, in sharing information and providing feedback.