Benchmarking staff performance : how staff departments can enhance their value to the customer

Jac Fitz-enz breaks new ground by showing how to apply benchmarking techniques - typically used for line functions in manufacturing - to measure the added value of staff. He shows how to plan and execute a benchmarking project that clearly demonstrates the vital, measurable role staff departments play in contributing to quality, productivity, and service in any organization. He explains how to determine goals for improving staff performance in key areas by setting as a benchmark the effective practices employed by other companies who are exemplary in those areas. By showing how to benchmark staff functions, Dr. Fitz-enz unveils a unique and powerful tool: a dynamic process for making continuous progress toward quality and service to the customer and, ultimately, competitive advantage for the organization. Based on extensive hands-on experience and numerous business examples, Fitz-enz charts out how to plan and launch a staff benchmarking project - from identifying which internal functions have the greatest potential for adding value to selecting and contacting appropriate benchmark organizations. The author walks the reader step-by-step through every phase of a project, providing a variety of sample questionnaires for qualifying benchmarking partners. He offers proven methods and systems for measuring tangible 'before and after' results of staff functions, and expert guidance on how to communicate and rally support for a concrete plan of action once the data has been analyzed.