In today’s fast-paced business world, making sure you’re measuring the right things can make all the difference. As Peter Drucker famously said, “what gets measured gets done”—but the real question is, what should we measure? For businesses looking to stay competitive, two tools stand out: KPIs and OKRs.

What’s the Difference?

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) help businesses keep track of essential metrics—concrete figures that show how you’re really performing. For example, you might measure:

• The number of new customers acquired this month
• The average sales per client
• How quickly customer complaints are resolved
• Staff turnover rates

Tracking these KPIs show where your business is excelling—and where you might need improvement. The trick is to choose those KPIs that are truly linked to your most important goals, rather than drowning in data.

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) take measurement a step further by connecting your big business objectives to specific, measurable results. For instance:

• Objective: Become the preferred supplier in your sector within two years
• Key Result: Increase revenue to $10 million
• Key Result: Improve customer retention to 95%
• Key Result: Raise monthly supplier referrals from 7 to 10

This approach doesn’t just track performance—it aligns your entire team to your strategy, ensuring everyone is working toward the same vision.

How Can My Business Use KPIs and OKRs?

• Sales Team: Set KPIs such as number of calls made, meetings booked, and deals closed. Use OKRs to unite the team behind targets like launching a new product and achieving 15% revenue growth in a specific market.
• Customer Service: Monitor KPIs like average resolution time and customer satisfaction scores. An OKR could focus on reducing average complaint resolution time by 20%.
• Operations: Track KPIs around cost savings, delivery times, or supply chain efficiency. Link these to an objective such as “achieve best-in-class delivery times in the region” with key results, for example, “deliver 90% of orders within 48 hours”.
• Personal Development: Business owners and managers can track KPIs such as hours spent on professional learning, the number of new qualifications gained, or feedback scores from mentoring sessions. Useful OKRs might be “attend a leadership conference and apply two new techniques to team management by December” or “improve public speaking skills by delivering five presentations before the end of the year.” These measures help you focus on tangible actions and steady progress in developing your skills and confidence.

Making It Work

To get the best results, keep your KPIs and OKRs SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Review them regularly with your team and make adjustments as you go.

By setting clear KPIs and OKRs, your business can stay laser-focused on what really drives success. Whether you’re growing sales, improving customer satisfaction or streamlining operations, these tools will help you track progress and achieve your goals more effectively.

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Please also note that many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should seek professional advice to independently verify their interpretation and the information’s applicability to their particular circumstances. Should you have any further questions, please get in touch with us for assistance with your SMSF, business, bookkeeping and tax requirements. All rights reserved. Based on content from Mindshop, a trusted resource for business advisors worldwide. Liability Limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.