Setting & Measuring Goals

As we begin the new year, it is time to set personal and business goals. Successful goal-setting involves establishing results-oriented objectives in partnership with key contributing performance indicators. Think about a person setting out to lose weight. She may set a results-oriented goal of losing 50 pounds by year end. Associated key contributing performance items would include daily activities such as exercising for 30 minutes, drinking eight glasses of water, and reducing caloric intake by 200 calories. Similar objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) are established by the most successful food operations and are tracked throughout the year.

Objectives are the results the organization seeks to achieve. Some objectives that you may find in a food operation include reducing complaints by 5%, reducing employee turnover by 8%, or increasing sales volume by 10%. Clearly stating the objective is the first step. Once objectives have been established, then the activities that need to occur to support reaching each objective must be defined. These supporting activities are the key performance indicators. Some examples of KPIs common to food operations are: minimum 95% completion of preventive maintenance tasks; minimum 98% completion of master cleaning schedule tasks; and no more than 5% CCP deviations. Both the objectives and the key performance indicators must be measured.

Simply establishing and communicating objectives and KPIs related to food safety and quality can influence a facility’s food safety culture. There are a limited number of objectives and KPIs for each operation and having several revolve around food safety and quality helps to set the tone of how important those components are to the business.

Many of the most common food safety- and quality-related KPIs in a food plant focus on reducing “re” activities, such as rework, rejection, re-cleaning, and retesting. Not only does “getting it right the first time” improve efficiencies and finances, it also reduces the opportunities for food safety or quality failures to slip through the system. Most food operations currently do not know how much time, money, and effort is spent on these “re” activities. Taking measurements and sharing them with the team can be a hugely impactful first step.

Once KPIs are measured and the results are shared, then informed decisions can be made about where resources and efforts need to be spent. Informed decisions maximize resources and ensure that focus remains on top issues, namely food safety and quality.

The most important element of successful objectives and KPIs is that they are supported by top management. This means that top management is investing time and other resources to make accurate measurements and to make corrections when they trend off target. This is why objectives and KPIs often are established from the top down.

Selecting objectives that are influenced by the greatest number of employees also is considered a best practice. Such objectives tend to represent the overall health of the business. Conversely, selecting objectives that are only influenced by a limited group of people may give false impressions (positive or negative) of the organization’s success. KPIs can be department or function specific, but objectives should more widespread. Take for example, the objective of reducing complaints. Most, if not all departments, would have direct impact on this objective. Then each department may have individual KPIs that contribute to it, such as the shipping department which may have KPIs for load accuracy and speed of loading vehicles.

As you think about the impact that you want to have on your food facility this year, consider the role of objectives and KPIs. Like many skills, it may be beneficial to start small and build from there. Select one or two areas that are directly in your control. Define a target indicator, measure it routinely, share results, and make corrections based on data.

The author is Vice President, Food Safety Services Innovation, AIB International.