KPI
A KPI source tells the system where to find a figure it can count for itself: the dispatch documents, the sales orders, the rejection notes. Once a source exists, a measure can be answered by the system instead of by a man typing a number.
What it is for
Most appraisal measures are answered by a person: the man types what he achieved, his manager agrees or argues. Some measures should not be answered that way, because the company already holds the figure. Tonnes dispatched, orders won, rejection notes raised: these are in the system, and asking somebody to type them invites a rounder number than the truth.
A KPI source is a saved pointer to where such a figure lives, together with how to tell whose figure it is. It is set up once per source and then reused by as many measures as you like.
This is the one screen in the module written for a consultant rather than for HR. It names documents and fields, and somebody who knows the client's data has to fill it. If the client has no automatic measures, skip the screen entirely, and answer everything by hand on the Evaluation Metric.
Every field, in plain words
The source
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| KPI Source | The short code for the source | DISPATCH | Required |
| Name | The source in words, as it appears when a measure picks it | Dispatch Notes | Required |
| Table Name | The document the figures are read from | Required | |
| Line Table | The document's lines, when the figure is on a line rather than on the document itself | Leave blank when the figure is on the document | |
| Date Column | Which date decides whether a document falls inside the appraisal period | Required. The document date | |
| Employee Path | How the system works out whose figure a document is | Responsible to Employee | Required. RSP the document's responsible person leads to the employee. USR the user who entered it leads to the employee. EMP the document carries the employee number itself |
| Employee Column | The field the path starts from | Required | |
| Base Filter | A condition every document must meet before it counts, such as only approved documents | Keep it simple. A condition that itself reads another document is refused when the figure is worked out | |
| Notes | Why this source exists and what it should and should not be used for | Dispatch notes, approved only. Do not use for returns | Worth filling. The next consultant will thank you |
Available Figures
One line per figure this source can supply. A measure picks from these rather than naming a field itself.
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line # | Line number | Fills itself | |
| Column | The field holding the figure | Required | |
| Column Name | What the consultant sees when picking it on a measure | Net weight dispatched | Required. Name it for the reader, not for the database |
| Value Type | What kind of value the field holds | ||
| On Line Table | Tick when the figure is on the document's lines rather than on the document | Tick for quantity, clear for a document total | |
| Line Text | A note about this figure | Weight in tonnes, excludes packing |
How to configure it
- Agree with the client which measures should be counted automatically. Usually it is two or three: output, dispatch, rejection.
- For each one, find the document the figure already lives on, and check it is being entered reliably. An automatic measure reading a document nobody fills is worse than a manual one.
- Open the screen, give the source a code and a name. DISPATCH, Dispatch Notes.
- Name the document, the date that decides the period, and how the document points at an employee.
- Add a base filter if only approved or only completed documents should count.
- Add one Available Figures line per figure, with a name a consultant will recognise six months from now.
- Save, then go to Evaluation Metric, create the measure, set it to Computed and point it at this source.
- Test it there, on a real employee over a real date range, before anybody is appraised on it.
Scenarios
"The dispatch figures are in the system, do not make the supervisor type them"
Build a source over the dispatch documents, with the net weight as an available figure, and make the on-time dispatch measure Computed against it. The achievement appears on the sheet without anybody typing it.
"The sales figure should count the man named on the line, not the one who raised the order"
That is what the employee path and the column it starts from are for. Point them at the line's own person, and tick On Line Table on the figure. Each line then credits the man named on it.
What it is connected to
- Evaluation Metric is the only screen that reads a KPI source. A measure set to Computed names one.
- Employee Goal carries the figure that was worked out, and freezes it once the period has ended.
- Performance Target Entity has a Refresh Achievements action that recomputes the live ones.
If something looks wrong
- "The computed figure comes out as zero" - either no document falls inside the period on the date you chose, or the employee path does not reach the person. Test it on the measure with a date range you know has documents in it.
- "The figure is right but it is credited to the wrong man" - the employee path is wrong. Responsible, user and employee number are three different answers to whose figure it is.
- "It will not work out the figure and complains about the filter" - the base filter is reading another document. Keep it to a plain condition on the document itself.
- "The figure changed after the manager had scored it" - it should not. Once a period has ended its figures are frozen, and Refresh Achievements leaves them alone. A figure still moving means the period has not ended yet.