Transforming your enterprise through ascertaining your critical success factors & associated KPIs
Show me a company with over 20 KPIs and I will show you lack of focus, lack of alignment and under achievement
For years organisations that have measured and reported, what they thought were KPIs, have not had the focus, adaptability, innovation and profitability that they were seeking. KPIs themselves were mislabelled and misused. Some organisations try and manage with over forty KPIs, many of which are not KPIs.
David Parmenter has brought to light three discoveries to unlock performance measures from their shackles.
1. An organization operating without its critical success factors, known by all staff, is aimless
2. Most measures are not in fact KPIs they are result indicators — measures that show how teams have worked together, often measured monthly leading to a busy reporting machine that fails the organization
3. All KPIs are non-financial, measured 24/7, daily or at the very least, weekly
David Parmenter’s KPI toolkit (whitepaper and accompanying electronic media) contains up to the minute research and discoveries since the fourth edition of Key Performance Indicators was published. There are three options based on size of your organisation (Less than 100 FTEs, 100- to 250 FTEs and over 250 FTEs).
How do you start a KPI project? -You will need to:
You first need be fully aware what is involved. Complete my checklist “Are you ready for a KPI project”. Read David’s chapters on The Great Misunderstanding with regards to KPIs and the myths of performance measurement.Start creating the burning platform in the minds of the C-Suite and the organization’s oracles. Read David’s chapter on Leading and Selling Change.
Plan your approach by reading my KPI book, and purchase my KPI toolkit package.
Once you have selected a KPI team consider getting me to deliver an in-house webcast to help train the KPI team for you.
Start the journey with ascertaining the organisation’s critical success factors. I can support you from afar through GoToMeetings or phone calls.
Winning KPI webinar training delivered by David Parmenter
David Parmenter has designed a Winning KPI webinar based training programme so he can deliver KPI training to the inhouse KPI team and staff remotely. Normally he only gets involved if he has first had a telephone / WhatsApp call with the CEO.
Part 1: Train the KPI team, deliver three 2.5 hour webinars and handover for the KPI team to deliver the two remaining webinars. Delivering pretraining and the web based training programme (3 sessions) is about 5-6 days of work for me. It involves:
- liaison time with the KPI team
- Reviewing background materials
- Preparation of presentations
- Video meetings with SLT as required
- Preparing materials using your company’s content for the webinars
- Detailed review of the first cut CSFs
- Reviewing content generated by webinars in time for the next session
- Use of my IP
Part 2: Further support to the KPI team. Further KPI team support would include:
- Weekly meetings for duration of the active stages project
- On-call to answer questions that are holding up progress
- Detailed review of the final draft of the critical success factors.
- Assistance with the preparation of the slides for the presentation of the CSFs to staff
- Detailed review of the final performance measures.
KPI advice from David Parmenter (The King of KPIs)
What are KPIs |
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Selling a KPI project |
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Starting a KPI project |
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Getting help with your KPI project |
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Reporting performance measures |
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What is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are those indicators that focus on the aspects of organisational performance that are the most critical for the current and future success of the organisation. KPIs have seven characteristics, which are explained in Chapter 1 KPI-book 4th edition “The Great Misunderstanding”. It is a myth to consider all performance measures to be KPIs. There are in fact four types of performance measures. There will only be about 8 – 10 KPIs in an organisation. For more information, also read Chapter 2 KPI book 4th edition ” The myths of performance measurement”.
Imagine the staff in your organisation linked to the critical success factors, focusing on the key activities that need to be done well, day-in and day-out.
This is why enterprises need to ascertain their critical success factors, communicate them, and then measure progress with them.
KPIs are more than just a management and leadership catchphrase. The right KPIs, properly deployed, can transform your organisation – creating the kind of competitive advantage that delivers greater profitability and bigger bonus pools. The last two decades spent consulting and speaking to global enterprises and audiences in 31 countries and writing four books on the impact of KPIs, has convinced me that no other single management tool delivers more profound and positive organisational change. My winning KPIs are chosen and designed to cut through and sweep away management practices and performance issues that clog daily operations.
By adopting, embracing and implementing my winning KPIs you can expect:
- Advanced operational performance, better job alignment invariably leading to happier customer
- More clearly defined critical success factors and related performance measures resulting in a competitive advantage
- An up-welling of innovation throughout your enterprise
- A better led and managed organisation dedicated to best practice performance
- To attract, recruit and retain the right people
People deliver results. But they need to know what’s expected of them. They also need to know how and when they have achieved the right results.
A breakthrough 4th Edition of my best selling KPI Book can now be ordered from Amazon
Here are three chapters for you to assess the value of this new edition. I can guarantee you will never look and use KPIs in the same way again. This book has further simplified my work and I fervently hope that it speeds up the desire to use and implement of winning KPIs.
Chapter 1 KPI-book 4th edition “The Great Misunderstanding”.
Chapter 2 KPI book 4th edition ” The myths of performance measurement”.
Click this link to look inside the new 4th edition and order from Amazon
Free E-templates to readers who post a review
If you have already read the book and are prepared to write a 100 -150 word review I will send you free of charge the templates from the book as long as the review is lodged on Amazon and goodreads. Please email me as soon as this is done using parmenter [at] waymark [.] co [.] nz
Other writers who understand performance management
Stacey Barr – has developed a very practical approach to ascertaining KPIs. She has an 8 step process in her PuMP methodology. Her work is certainly worth reviewing, and a decision should be made which methodology you want to use, or a hybrid between my methodology and Stacey’s.
Accessing David Parmenter’s intellectual property
Delivering the two day CSF workshop as 5 *2.5 hour webinar series
The two day workshop is a vital step in a KPI project and this is a less expensive way of getting some rubber on the road. Click here to enquire more about this option.
KPI and CSF Toolkits with E-Templates (currently on a special offer)
If you want to access the latest thoughts of David Parmenter, buy his KPI and CSF toolkits which are constantly updated and are a comprehensive (100 page) guide to get you to make change in the areas covered. each toolkit comes with accompanying electronic templates to get your implementation started. On time of acquisition David reviews and updates the tookit as appropriate. These toolkits are printed, signed and posted to the purchaser.
David Parmenter’s Working Guides (currently on a special offer)
For areas which are not covered by a toolkit David Parmenter has written a shorter (20- 30 pages) working guide to help you make progress. They can be read and absorbed in an hour. All you need to do is purchase them via the PayPal link and I will send you the working guides are emailed with accompanying useful E-templates with 48 hours. To buy multiple guides access the special deal.
E-Templates From David Parmenter’s Best Selling KPI Book (currently on a special offer)
You can purchase all the electronic versions of the KPI book templates. Once the paypal notification has been received the templates are emailed with 48 hours.
David Parmenter’s Performance Measures Database known as a KPI database -(currently on a special offer)
The database, developed over the last twenty years, and regularly updated, is sent in both Access and Excel. In my KPI book, I have always provided a list of performance measures to help to start or rejuvenate a KPI project. To purchase the latest version of this Performance Measures database costs US$99. This database helps a team manage the balanced scorecard perspectives, enables all the organisation’s teams to select their performance measures, contains a checklist of success factors by major sectors and sets over 400 measures to help with the selection process. The database contains an easy ‘add to’ feature so existing measures can be added. The database, if used correctly, will ensure that all measures are sourced from a critical success factor in an organisation. Buy it and get started tomorrow!
KPI reporting templates
The problem with KPIs
Links to some Published Articles
- Should we abandon performance measures – why KPIs fail
- Selling and leading Change Chapter 2 from Financial Controllers and CFO’s Toolkit” – how to sell a KPI project
- Setting Fresh Growth in Motion, Feb 2018 ICAEW – offers an insight into how to establish KPIs
KPI Toolkit (150 Page Whitepaper + e-templates)
How to implement Winning KPIsThis unique implementation toolkit has my latest thinking on KPIs. It is a comprehensive paper (150 pages), designed to help readers implement the Winning KPI methodology. The toolkit comes with electronic media, eg: formats, templates, draft PowerPoints, and workshop templates to assist in swift implementation. In addition, the templates from the 4th edition are also included.
I have spent around US$50,000 developing and updating this toolkit. I guarantee, you will save many times the cost of the toolkit. The KPI toolkit includes my latest thinking before it is printed and dispatched to you.

Glenn Lewington interviews Author David Parmenter on performance indicators podcast
Please click here to hear the podcast
To contact David Parmenter, complete this contact form