Speak to any executive, regardless of industry, and they'll always be fascinated to hear how other companies run similar functions. When used correctly, benchmarking can be an extremely effective learning and validation tool for leaders who are trying to improve their corporate operation. Through competitive benchmarking (comparing your team to similar teams at other companies) and best practices benchmarking (comparing your team to known industry leading methods), a corporate leader can quickly gain the validation needed to put positive changes into motion. This being said, benchmarking is easily the most dangerous method of research available to business leaders who are looking to make an informed decision that will change the way their organization runs. Before utilizing benchmarks to guide operational changes, leaders should consider organizational culture, data source specificity, and the unique needs of their organization.
It's relatively simple to compare two companies who are the same size, sell the same product or service, and operate in the same geography, but this still doesn't create an apples to apples comparison. Chances are these two companies foster two very different company and departmental cultures. Culture influences how employees collaborate with one another, how they relate to their managers, how they achieve success, and how they expect to advance within the organization. Culture also impacts a company's balance of priorities such as "quality vs. quantity" and "cycle time vs. cost effectiveness." Leaders need to be aware of their company's culture and how it is unique before applying any benchmarking or best practices information to their organization.
Countless surveys, data reports, industry articles, speakers, consulting firms and other sources are available to corporate leaders that provide insight into how other companies operate. While this information is interesting and serves as a good jumping-off point, it should not be applied directly without having the appropriate details on the companies that were included in the research. Often resources may attribute content to being "sampled from 100 in-house creative departments," but leaders should be weary of applying the findings without more focused demographics. Unless the resource studies a closely interrelated group of companies and/or departments, the data can cause leaders to misstep.
Benchmarks are most useful when the benchmarking and best practices information is for validation, not direction. Leaders need to develop the best solution for their company based on the unique needs of the organization. As ideas are developed, benchmarking can be used to generate potential paths and solutions, but personal, innovative thinking and institutional knowledge should not be eliminated from the improvement process.
At Cella, we very rarely find ourselves working on an operations improvement engagement that only focuses on one small operational aspect of a creative or marketing department. Processes, org charts, talent management styles, workflow systems, and-- most notably--a department's mission and vision statement are all very closely aligned and each can be impacted by changes to another. When you're seeking validation of planned operational changes by applying benchmarks, be cautious of the small differences between your organization and your benchmarking data that could lead to ripple effects across your organization.
