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e-benchmarking.org (Benchmarking Procedure)

This week I learned the true value of “Benchmarking”. Considering our current financial crisis, it is important to understand the true need for Benchmarking. According to WikiPedia, “Benchmarking is the process of comparing the cost, time or quality of what one organization does against what another organization does. The result is often a business case for making changes in order to make improvements.”  As an employee, it’s time for you to figure out what it is your supposed to be doing at your company and make sure you hit your #’s. (ie: Sales hit their Goals, Marketing hits their ROI, etc.) As a business owner, benchmarking applies to almost every department for a company to be most profitable. You need to find your weak spots and FIX THEM (or FIRE THEM, depending on the situation).

For business owners, there is no single benchmarking process that has been universally adopted, but the most prominent methodology is the 12 stage methodology by Robert Camp (who wrote the first book on benchmarking in 1989). You can follow the image at the top of this post or use the following as an example of a typical shorter version of the methodology.

1. Identify your problem areas,
2. Identify other industries that have similar processes,
3. Identify organizations that are leaders in these areas,
4. Survey companies for measures and practice,
5. Visit the “best practice” companies to identify leading edge practices,
6. Implement new and improved business practices (Wikipedia).

If I’m doing it, I’m positive your companies are doing it and without a doubt, you should be doing it too! I’d hate to say, but for employees, I suggest you do what I do and sit down with your managers to discuss goals and #’s. It can only be to your advantage to have goals match up with your companies benchmarking statistics.  If your boss isn’t benchmarking, then I suggest you urge him/her to do so and get in on the process. (Sucking up would be my #2 choice in times of financial crises!)

FOR ALL OF YOU BENCHMAKERS, break out your Excel Spreadsheets, tap into your companies reporting tools and start crunching numbers. Oh, and at the end, if you find out you’re the source of all problems at your company - you can always leave that blank

Original article by Joshua Russak