The word "benchmark" in the context of employee engagement best practices that boost competitive advantage has factored into no less than 38 posts on this blog. You can see for yourself which ones by typing it into the Search box on the right.
But what does benchmarking really mean? What is its potential to help small business leaders transform their enterprises into marketplace heavyweights?
"Krish" shed some light on this last week on ayushveda.com's Business & Jobs portal:
Benchmarking is a process of comparing your organization with the best in trade to see where you stand in relation to the best. When you benchmark, you try to bridge the gap between your organization and the best in trade. Invariably, a lot of emphasis is made on adhering to Best Practices. When a new product is designed or a new process is launched, organizations tend to immediately benchmark their processes with the best practices around.
He goes on to discuss the Six Sigma benchmarking "fad," as well as why it's important to proceed with caution when comparing best practices, and also some guidelines for managing change at the tail end of the benchmarking process.
Have you thought systematically about your people practices? After all, as Catherine Mattice says on the No Workplace Bullies blog, "workplace culture is a business strategy." You can benchmark the policies and procedures endemic to your culture by applying to our 2010 Top Small Company Workplaces competition. Heck, your firm just might be featured in Inc. magazine!
Photo credit: Primary Intelligence
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