For Best Practices

 A method for identifying and importing

best practices in order to improve
performance
 The process of learning, adapting, and
measuring outstanding practices and
processes from any organization to
improve performance
 Self Audit
 To learn from others
 Tool to create motivation for change
 Helps provide focus and set priorities for HR

Manager
 To assess improvements in HR competencies

over a period of time

 Identify opportunities to improve
performance
 Learn from others’ experiences
 Set realistic but ambitious targets
 Uncover strengths in one’s own
organization
 Better prioritize and allocate resources
 A firm interested in improving their 
customer service practices may compare its own
processes and metrics against those of its most
successful competitor. If it identifies negative
discrepancies or differences in measures, it may
start improving its processes to strengthen its
performance. The firm will observe and measure
the competitor's operations, and in some
industries, it will send in employees as
customers to gain direct experience. 
 A good example is a quick-service/drive-thru
restaurant chain. As it is dependent on speedy and
accurate service to maximize efficiency, cut costs,
and increase profits, it will study the drive-thru
practices of key competitors. Every second gained
without sacrificing customer quality will allow the
firm to increase its profits. Over the years,
competitors have consistently innovated their
drive-thru operations' configuration, such as the
number of windows, the menu, the speaker boards
and ordering approaches in an attempt to improve
their performances. They are n constantly watching
and benchmarking against each other. 
 Strategic Benchmarking

How public, private, and nonprofit

organizations compare with each other.
It moves across industries and cities to
determine what are the best strategic
outcomes.
 Performance Benchmarking

How public, private, and nonprofit

organizations compare themselves
with each other in terms of product
and service. It focuses on elements
of cost, technical quality, service
features, speed, reliability, and other
performance comparisons.
 Process Benchmarking

How public, private, and nonprofit

organizations compare through the
identification of the most effective
operating practices from many
organizations that perform similar
work processes.
 Target is not critical to the core
business functions
 Customer’s requirement is not clear
 Key stakeholders are not involved
 Inadequate resources to carry

through
 No plan for implementing findings
 Fear of sharing information with

other organizations
 HR Functions :Ration of HR Manager to line
Managers
 HR Practises: Attrition Rate , % of Salary bill

on training expenses
 Competencies of HR Personnel: Knowledge

about Business , technical comp., change

management
 Planning

Improving Collecting
Practices Data

Analysis
 Determine the purpose and scope of
the project
 Select the process to be

benchmarked
 Choose the team
 Define the scope
 Develop a flow chart for the process
 Establish process measures
 Identify benchmarking partners
 Conduct background research to gain
thorough understanding on the
process and partnering organizations
 Use questionnaires to gather
information necessary for
benchmarking
 Conduct site visits if additional
information is needed
 Conduct interviews if more detail
information is needed
 Analyze quantitative data of partnering
organizations and your organization
 Analyze qualitative data of partnering
organizations and your organization
 Determine the performance gap
 Report findings and brief management
 Develop an improvement implementation
plan
 Implement process improvements
 Monitor performance measurements and
track progress
 Recalibrate the process as needed
 American Productivity and Quality Center
http://www.apqc.org

 National Institute of Standards and

Technology Quality Program
http://www.quality.nist.gov