KRAs that actually move productivity
Most performance systems measure activity. A small set of design rules turns KRAs into something the business can feel.
A performance management system that everyone completes and nobody trusts is worse than none: it consumes weeks and produces a ranking no one will defend.
Common failure modes
- —KRAs describe activities ('conduct training') rather than outcomes ('reduce line rejection to 2%')
- —Every goal is weighted equally, so nothing is a priority
- —Targets are set once a year and never revisited when the business shifts
- —Ratings are moderated by seniority rather than evidence
Design rules that work
- —No more than five KRAs per role, with weightings that add to 100
- —Each KRA traceable to a business number the leadership team already reviews
- —A mid-year checkpoint with the authority to change targets
- —Evidence recorded through the year, not reconstructed in March
Done properly, the appraisal conversation becomes a summary of things both people already knew — which is exactly the point.
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