In general, processes tend to be measured by developing and implementing a system of achievement indicators. Measuring processes usually happens based upon three aspects:

• Measuring the input,
• Measuring the process itself, and
• Measuring the output of the process.

What matters here, are the results in the fields of effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility. Only when the critical achievement indicators are available for both staff and management, is a timely intervention possible.

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking can be described as the continuous process of the structured measurement and comparison of products, service and processes of a certain company in relation to the top competitors in the field. Benchmarking processes is also referred to as an operational benchmark.

The moment the processes of a company have been mapped, there is an excellent base to benchmark it with the processes in other organizations, which could potentially lead to the finding of improvement options. Process maps allow a critical view at resources and costs on the input side and quality and quantity on the output side.

How to Perform a Benchmark?

A typical benchmarking process consists out of the following steps:

• Identify and prioritize the processes to benchmark (in the case of an operational benchmark).
• Determine what has to be measured.
• Determine with which organization it will be compared.
• Collect the relevant data.
• Analyze the data to find the differences between the companies under consideration.
• Use the knowledge of these differences to determine themes for improvement, formulate goals and create an approach to reach these goals.
• Implement the changed process and evaluate it regularly.

Points of Interest when Benchmarking

It has been noticed that there are some points to be kept in mind when performing an operational benchmark. The most obvious ones are:

• Do not expect that benchmarking is an easy process that can be done in a short amount of time.
• Do not just concentrate on the process indicators, but also focus on the processes themselves, the process steps and tasks.
• It is important to find the right balance in the attention spent on the different aspects of the benchmarking process.
• It will not be easy to find benchmarking partners for all (partial) processes within the organization.
• Do not expect your benchmarking partner to answer all of your questions, you are still competing in the world of business.
• Benchmarking is not a goal on its own, but a means to achieve improvement in the considered process(es).