As a store owner or manager, you know what key performance indicators (KPIs) are and how they can help you measure your store’s success. But if you want to gain a deeper understanding of your store and its employees, you need to track your back office productivity.
Now, knowing which KPIs to measure can be tough given that productivity isn’t exactly tangible. Measure the wrong KPIs and you’ll be tracking something that doesn’t align with your goals or give you an accurate picture of employee performance.
An effective KPI must be clearly defined, relevant to a specific goal, and explicitly communicated to employees at all levels.
Here, we highlight the most important KPIs to track for five common back office departments, so you can get a clear picture of your back office productivity.
Related: 7 ways to use Excel to keep track of your KPIs
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10 KPIs to monitor back office productivity
The KPIs you measure will be different from one department to the next, depending on the size and the structure of your business. We take a look at the KPIs for five of the most common back office departments: Customer service, human resources, accounting, logistics and information technology IT). These KPIs include:
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Average queue time of incoming phone calls.
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Customer satisfaction score.
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Days to fill a position.
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Revenue per employee.
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Time to process invoices.
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Time spent correcting documents or input data per week.
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On-time shipping.
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On-time final delivery.
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Ticket volume trends.
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Project delivery time.
Let’s take a closer look at which numbers you’ll want to crunch to evaluate back office productivity.
1. Average queue time of incoming phone calls
This KPI refers to the average time callers have to wait in queue before they’re able to speak with a representative. According to one study, 75 percent of customers think it takes too long to reach a live agent.
Make your store more efficient and improve your customer satisfaction rates at the same time by finding out how much time your customers spend waiting and why.
Customer satisfaction has a direct impact on pretty much every area of your business, so it’s crucial that you keep tabs on it and make improvements as necessary.
2. Customer satisfaction score
You need to keep your customers happy to keep them coming back, which is why this is one of the most important metrics to track. To get the data, send customer surveys once or twice a year, or ask for feedback immediately following customer service calls.
Related: Measuring customer satisfaction as a service-based business
3. Days to fill a position
Your HR department is responsible for onboarding new employees and managing them. But how efficient is your team? Knowing how long it takes to fill a position once a job has been posted can tell you how efficient your recruiting process is and offer insight into the HR department’s throughput.
Related: Build your team — from hiring the best in-house talent to outsourcing
4. Revenue per employee
Revenue per employee is calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of employees. While this metric isn’t as bullet-proof as others, it is a good way to evaluate how well your store is doing. Obviously, the higher the number the better.
5. Time to process invoices
Monitoring the efficiency of your accounting team can help you meet your sales goals, as well as ensure there are no late fees or missed payments. Longer processing times can mean missed payments, late payment fees, poor cash flow and other issues, resulting in employee and supplier dissatisfaction.
6. Time spent correcting documents or input data per week
This gives you insight into how your accounting process can be improved. For example, it can highlight issues syncing your sales data with your accounting software or signal it’s time to investigate new ways to automate aspects of the accounting process.
7. On-time shipping
What percentage of your orders are shipped on time? The more that are, the more late fees you can avoid.
Related: Tips and tricks that make shipping easy for small eCommerce businesses
8. On-time final delivery
What percentage of your orders are delivered on time? Being punctual with your packages can help you avoid customer complaints.
Online ordering can help you reach more customers. On the flip side, you have to get your products shipped and delivered in the most efficient manner possible. Monitor and improve the back office productivity of this team by evaluating these last two KPIs.
9. Ticket volume trends
This can include tracking how many tickets were raised during certain periods of time and how many tickets were escalated to higher-level technicians.
10. Project delivery time
How long does your IT department need to finish a project? Whether it’s finding ways to speed up your online store or installing a new firewall, knowing how long the team takes to complete a project helps you plan accordingly and avoid additional costs.
Your IT team helps keep your store up and running — both online and in-person. To monitor how efficient your IT team is, use the metrics above.
Wrapping up
An efficient and productive back office is imperative for a successful business. Using these KPIs, you can ensure things continue to run smoothly.
Editor’s note: Looking for an easy way to track all these KPIs? Microsoft Office 365 from GoDaddy can help. It comes equipped with Excel, so tracking is easy, plus Microsoft Invoicing and Outlook Customer Manager.
