KPIs and Goals How to build a KPI library, assign targets with weights, record what was achieved, and let people set their own goals against them.

Performance measurement has two halves that people confuse. KPIs are what the organisation measures. Goals are what an individual commits to. They connect, but they are not the same thing and they are owned by different people.

The KPI Library

Define each measure once, centrally, and reuse it. A library entry carries a name, a description, a category, a default target, a unit, and a default weight.

Defining "New qualified leads, monthly, target 12" once means every sales role is measured the same way. Letting each manager invent their own means you can never compare two people or two teams, and reporting becomes anecdote.

Retired measures are marked inactive rather than deleted, so historical scores still resolve to something.

Assigning A KPI

Assigning takes the library entry and attaches it to a person for a review cycle, with:

• Target value - their number, which can differ from the default
• Weight - how much this KPI counts relative to their others

Weights are the honest part. Six KPIs at equal weight says everything matters equally, which is almost never true and gives no guidance about what to drop when the week is full. Weight what actually matters more.

Recording Achievement

A score records the achieved value for a period, with a start and end date, a resulting score, comments, and a review status.

Comments matter more than the number. A miss with context — a market that moved, a project that was descoped — is a different conversation from a miss with none, and in six months nobody remembers which it was.

Goals

Goals belong to the individual. Each has a title, a description, an optional link to a KPI, a target date, an approval, and a progress percentage.

The link is what ties personal ambition to organisational measurement. A goal of "run the migration project" linked to a delivery KPI is measurable; the same goal unlinked is a note.

Progress is a percentage rather than a status, which suits work that advances continuously. Update it at the review, not at the end — a goal that jumps from 0 to 100 on the last day taught nobody anything.

How They Fit Together

Thing	Owned by	Answers
KPI library	The organisation	What do we measure?
KPI assignment	The manager	What is this person's target?
Score	The manager	What did they achieve?
Goal	The individual	What am I committing to?

Setting This Up

1. Build the library first. Ten to fifteen measures covering the organisation is plenty.
2. Set sensible defaults for target and weight, so assignment is quick and consistent.
3. Assign three to five per person, weighted deliberately.
4. Agree goals with each person, linked to a KPI where they can be.
5. Score at the cycle, with comments.

Common Questions

A KPI applies to one department only. Library entries carry a category, and definitions can carry a department. Keep them in the one library so reporting stays comparable.

Someone's target should differ from the default. That is exactly what the assignment's target value is for. The default is a starting point.

Do goals need approval? The record supports it. Whether you require it is your policy — approval makes goals a commitment rather than a wish.

Can a goal have no KPI? Yes. Some genuinely are not measurable, and it is more honest to leave it unlinked than to attach a KPI that does not fit.