Performance Management

runningman Variability in performance is inevitable and goal setting can be hard to master. Large retail and manufacturing organizations are especially faced with significant variability not only between operating units within their network but also between individuals within each unit. Performance is impacted by business driven factors (such as technology, processes and other such factors driving capacity) as well as external uncontrollable factors such as demographics, seasonality, competition and the overall economy. As such, it is absolutely vital to understand and quantify these causes of variability before goal setting and results are evaluated.

The traditional approach to modeling variability is to develop "best-fit" functions on observed performance. The result is a model that builds in inefficiencies because it is drawn from the averages of top and bottom performers. A review of performance across the organization often indicates that the top performers often outperform the bottom performers by at least 300%. Furthermore, traditional models are also severely handicapped when dealing with multiple, conflicting and non-linear objectives such as productivity, customer service and profitability.

Performance Normalization

KIRAN has developed a breakthrough methodology that is based on the identification of the true top performers by normalizing key drivers and constraints. The proprietary performance normalization methodology offers a holistic tool that can be used to analyze seemingly disparate units in different locations and operating with diverse internal processes and external conditions. With the use of advanced statistical and data mining techniques, the model analyzes all factors suspected to have an impact, identifies the factors with statistical significance, and precisely quantifies the impact of these factors on performance. The results provide clear insight into the true potential of each unit compared to best-in-class performance and offer concrete answers, backed by solid validation and testing techniques, answers to questions like:

What are the key drivers of productivity?
What is the impact of internal processes, equipment and technology on performance?
How do external factors such as customer demographics and competition affect performance?
Who are the top, average, and under performers within the organization?
What is the performance capability of the units at peak level?
How can fair performance goals be set for diverse set of units?
What are the simple, repeatable behaviours that separate the top performers from underperformers?

The KIRAN Performance Management Suite is a high-impact data analytics solution that fundamentally changes the way organizations, especially with large retail networks, manage performance of operating units. KIRAN’s methodology has been used with tremendous success by Fortune 500 companies for benchmarking, goal setting, budgeting, aggressive cost-cutting and performance improvement initiatives.

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