1. Plan what you want to compare.
Benchmarking starts with identifying what you want to measure. Whether it’s salary, sales , team development, or another area of growth, you’ll want to define the activities you’re evaluating and the key metrics you’ll use to track progress.
2. Conduct research to collect relevant data.
Once you know what you want to measure, you can start talking to employees, competitors, customers, and other stakeholders. Then, hold one-on-one or group conversations to collect survey responses, so you can get valuable feedback to start the benchmarking process.
You should also do some research on where other companies buy bitcoin email list or departments are currently standing. For example, if you’re benchmarking salaries, look at websites like Glassdoor to see what other companies pay for the same positions and titles within your organization. Understanding the industry average can help you better set your own benchmark for measuring your company’s performance.
3. Analyze the data to assess where you are and where you want to be.
Using your research, you can find out where your current performance stands compared to other companies, to determine an appropriate and realistic goal for improvement. Then, organizing your data into an easy-to-understand format (e.g., graphs or tables) can give you a holistic picture of any gaps in your performance and how far you need to go to reach your desired benchmark.
4. Develop an action plan.
This is the implementation phase of the benchmarking process, where you will develop actionable steps that you and your stakeholders can take to achieve your goals. Defining success as an action plan in advance provides a clear path to achieving your benchmarks.
A good place to start is by leveraging common goal-setting approaches like SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, time-bound). This way, you can break down your overall benchmarking goals into smaller steps with concrete deadlines.