Measuring what matters

Wendy Lipton-Dibner, President and CEO, Professional Impact writes on how leaders build impassioned engagement, unrivalled loyalty, and boundless growth by measuring ‘Real-World Impact’.

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MYTH 1: REVENUE SHOULD BE THE TOP PRIORITY OF ORGANISATIONS AND ENTREPRENEURS IN EVERY INDUSTRY.

While revenue is critical to building and sustaining organisations, our research has found revenue grows faster and further when it is not the top priority. For example, leaders typically reward employees who exhibit above-average efforts in achieving organisational priorities. When revenue is the top priority, leaders reward the most substantial prises, awards, and bonuses to employees who exhibit above-average efforts in revenue production. This sends an unintended message to employees whose job description does not include direct revenue production. The message they receive is: Your work is less important. These employees often interpret that to mean I don’t matter and act out that belief through disengagement.

In organisations that prioritise impact, employees are rewarded for above-average efforts to create a measurable difference in the lives of internal and external stakeholders. When employees know their rewards are based on Real-World Impact Metrics, we see increases in engagement across all departments and significant increases in revenue production. In industries from healthcare to financial services, our research has consistently shown leaders who establish impact as the top priority and KPI yield more revenue, often achieving average revenue increases of 200 per cent in fewer than 30 days, with continued growth at 12 and 18 months. When you Focus On Impact™ the money comes.

MYTH 2: EMPLOYEE DISENGAGEMENT IS INCREASING—LEADER TRAINING IS THE SOLUTION.