Key performance indicators, also known as KPI or Key Success Indicators, help managers and employees gauge the effectiveness of various functions and processes important to achieving organizational goals.
关键绩效指标，通常被熟知为KPI，或者叫做关键成功指标，它能帮助到管理者和员工对实现组织目标很重要的多项职能和过程的有效性进行评估。
Some Examples of KPI
关键绩效指标案例
KPIs are intrinsically linked to a firm's strategic goals and are used to help managers assess whether they're on target as they work towards those goals.
关键绩效指标，是与某个公司的战略目标有着内在的关联，用来帮助管理者去评估他们所努力达成的目标是否准确。
■A sales team might track new revenue, total revenue, new customer capture, average deal size, and deal pipeline size to assess progress toward corporate revenue targets.
销售团队，可能去跟踪新的销售利润、销售总利润、获得的新客户、平均交易规模，以及交易渠道规模，去评估公司收益目标的进展情况。
■A customer support team might measure the average on-hold time for customers, as well as the percentage of calls that result in a high post-call survey rating and overall customer satisfaction.
客户支持团队，可能会去衡量平均让客户等待的时间，以及通话百分比。通话百分比，以通话后的调查比例，和总体客户满意度为结果。
■A marketing group will look at the contribution of marketing generated sales leads to total revenue over time to gauge their effectiveness.
营销团队，会调查营销所生成的销售对总收入的贡献，以评估其有效性。
■Other areas of the business will look at the efficiency of processes and various quality metrics.
公司的其他团队，会去关注流程的效率和各种质量衡量指标。
■Human resources will look at employee engagement, employee turnover, time-to-fill open positions and other related metrics.
人力资源团队会关注员工敬业度、人员流失问题、填补空缺职位上所用的时间，以及其他相关的衡量指标。
Managers and key stakeholders will monitor these indicators over time and adjust plans and programs as needed to improve the KPIs in support of the firm's strategic goals.
管理层与主要利益者，会长期监控这些指标，如果有必要，也会对计划和项目进行调整，以期支持到公司的战略目标。
Leading and Lagging Performance Indicators
引领性指标与滞后性指标
There's both art and science to the development of proper performance indicators.
合适的绩效指标，既是艺术，也是科学。
●Some indicators are lagging indicators and simply tell you how you've performed. Financial metrics are classic examples of these types of measures. They simply indicate results of past programs and campaigns. They have no value in predicting future performance.
某些指标是属于滞后性指标，仅仅会告诉你表现怎么样。财务指标，就是该类措施上的典型的案例。滞后性指标，仅仅会指出过去的项目，或者活动的结果，对于预测后续的绩效没有价值。
●Other measures are leading indicators offering guidance on future results. For example, an improvement in employee engagement is likely to forecast improvement in many key indicators, including customer satisfaction, innovation and overall participation in running the business.
其他的绩效指标是引领性指标，会给后续的结果指引方向。举例，员工敬业度方面的改进很可能预示很多关键指标上的改进，包括：客户满意度、创新，以及全员参与业务运营。
The goal is to have the right balance of both leading and lagging KPIs.
目标是让引领性指标与滞后性指标保持平衡。
Six Big Challenges in Developing Key Performance Indicators
制定关键绩效指标所面临的六大挑战
It takes considerable effort to develop a high-quality set of performance indicators. Managers and functional experts work together to propose a set of measures and to debate the relative importance of the various measures. A number of key challenges include:
开发一套高质量的绩效指标需要相当大的努力。管理人员和职能专家需要一道努力，提出一套措施，并就各种措施的相对重要性进行讨论。面临的主要挑战包括以下六大类：
1. If the firm's strategy and key objectives are not clear, measures tend to focus on just financial outcomes.
如果公司的战略与关键目标不够清晰的话，绩效指标倾向于只关注财务数据。
2. Too much reliance on financial indicators offers a very imbalanced and incomplete view on the health of a business.
过分依赖财务指标，会为企业的健康状况提供很不平衡和不完整的视野。
3. Measures deemed important by one area may not be viewed as important by others.
某个区域视作重要指标的，在其他区域看来，可能并不重要。
4. If compensation is tied to key targets for the performance indicators, this introduces a conflict of interest and considerable bias into the process.
如果薪酬与绩效指标的关键目标相挂钩，这就带来了利益冲突，也对流程带来了相当大的偏差。
5. Identifying leading indicators is a difficult process.
确认引领性指标的过程很难。
6. The ability to accurately measure and report on the identified measures may be difficult or impossible given internal reporting system limitations.
鉴于内部报告系统的限制，想要准确测量和报告已确定关键绩效指标的能力，可能会很困难的或无法做到的。
A healthy process for identifying and implementing key performance indicators involves the managers and contributors regularly revisiting and revising the measures.
确定和实施关键绩效指标的正常合理的流程，会涉及道管理者和贡献者定期重新讨论和修正关键绩效指标。
This fine-tuning process takes time and diligence by all parties.
这一对流程的微调，需要各方花费时间与努力
The Proper Use of Key Performance Indicators:
关键绩效指标的合理使用：
A properly developed and implemented KPI program incorporates regular review processes where managers and other stakeholders assess the meaning of the results. Improvement in employee engagement and customer satisfaction measures are positive, but diligent managers will assess the causes and impact of the improvements then decide how to continue to strengthen in these areas.
一个合理制定和实施的关键绩效指标项目，包括定期的评审流程，管理者和其他利益相关者要评估结果的意义所在。员工敬业度方面的改善，以及顾客满意度方面的绩效指标是积极的，但是勤奋的管理者将评估改善的原因以及影响，然后，决定如何在这些方面继续强化。
Similarly, a decline in sales results from the prior period or same period last year might be reasonably assessed as negative. However, the measures alone don't tell you what happened or how to improve. A set of proper sales-focused KPIs will include measures that showcase where conditions deteriorated and how likely they are to improve.
同样，去年或去年同期销售业绩的下降，可能会被适度地看成为负面的。然而，这些绩效指标本身并不能告诉你发生了什么，或者怎么样进行改善。一套合适的重点关注销售的绩效指标，包括显示情况在何处变坏的，以及改善的可能性如何。
Armed with these insights, sales team members can take action to strengthen the leading indicators and drive improved future results.
通过这些洞察，销售团队成员可以采取措施去加强引领性指标，并推动后续的结果得以提升。
The Bottom Line:
底线
KPIs are much like instruments that measure temperature and barometric pressure. It might be interesting to know that the temperature increased or decreased, but it's more critical to know whether a storm is imminent. The measures work together to provide a much more complete picture of the total situation.
关键绩效指标，就像测量温度和气压的仪器。知道气温上升或下降可能会很有趣，但了解暴风雨是否即将到来则更为关键。绩效指标共同作用，为我们提供了一个更加全面的整体情况的描述。
