The Challenge of Finding the Right Benchmarking Partner
In an uncertain economic climate, identifying effective and actionable solutions is crucial to strategic management. Best practice benchmarking providers can be invaluable for senior leaders facing complex organizational puzzles. By using refined analytical techniques and collaborative expertise, these organizations help companies navigate potential strategic directions.
However, choosing the wrong provider can waste time and money, leading to employee frustration. The key is to understand the methods common to proven benchmarking groups—how they analyze problems, gather data, and deliver action plans that provide measurable economic benefits.
6 Critical SuccessFactors for Benchmarking Providers
The methods used by world-class benchmarking providers like Best Practice Institute, APQC, and the Corporate Leadership Council are the result of years of experience. These "best of best practice" methodologies not only solve the immediate problem but also create a deeper understanding of underlying causes, which helps in solving future challenges. Here are six critical success factors common to top-ranked strategic benchmarking providers.
1. Intensive Planning and Problem Analysis
Rushing to a solution without understanding the root cause can mask deeper issues. Leading benchmarking organizations begin with an intensive investigation into the problem's background to ensure they are solving the right problem.
For example, the Best Practice Institute's six-step model dedicates the first two steps to identifying available talent and mapping potential improvement areas before executing solutions.
"Planning is 30% to 40% of the effort." — Rachele Williams, Program Manager of Research Services, APQC
This upfront investment in research also helps create detailed project roadmaps, ensuring efficient resource use and minimizing disruption to ongoing business processes.
2. Transferable Solutions
Thorough research is key to developing solutions that apply across business divisions and industries. By abstracting the fundamentals of a problem, best practice groups create solutions that can be broadly applied wherever the issue occurs, adapting to specific local needs.
This analysis "down to a molecular level...that almost every organization shares" enables the reframing of problems and solutions in a common language, opening up a variety of successful approaches implemented by other companies. — Conrad Schmidt, Executive Director and Chief Research Officer of HR Practice, Corporate Leadership Council (CLC)
This approach provides clients with a range of proven best practices. It also promotes networking, as BPI does by fostering collaborative relationships among executives to share insights on common problems.
3. A Strategic, Not Tactical, Focus
It’s easy to get lost in specific tools or methods rather than focusing on broader strategic goals. A strategic approach avoids the pitfalls of tactical myopia by constantly re-evaluating results against strategic benchmarks.
The Best Practice Institute’s proprietary six-phase Best Practice Systems Model cycles through evaluation, diagnosis, assessment, design, implementation, and support to maintain focus on continuous strategic improvement, not just the nuts and bolts of a single task.
4. Building Communities of Practice
The connected global marketplace makes it easier than ever to build collaborative networks. Business leaders worldwide are discovering the benefits of coming together to share experiences and brainstorm solutions.
PetroSkills, for example, builds competency maps by facilitating networks of competing companies like BP, Shell, and Saudi Aramco "for the mutual gain of all," according to Managing Director Ford Brett.
BPI has also built a powerful community of executives from diverse fields.
"[BPI is] a place for competitors and alliances to come together and collaborate for change worldwide." — Brian Bules, Head, Global Talent Solutions and Effectiveness, GlaxoSmithKline
These communities foster novel solutions, new best practices, and successful business alliances.
5. Clear and Frequent Communication
Building effective relationships is crucial to any benchmarking process. Positive relationships—built on client confidence—enable better analysis, more candid discussions, and greater success in implementation. Quality providers make constant, meaningful communication and process transparency the backbone of their client interactions.
APQC identifies "Clear and Frequent Communication" as a critical success factor, using collaborative research teams to ensure alignment. Similarly, BPI utilizes up-front interviewing, real-time problem solving, and consistent follow-up to ensure a high degree of client participation and measurable success.
6. Providing Actionable Results
Many consultants offer strategic analysis but deliver only vague generalities. Top benchmarking providers distinguish themselves by delivering concrete solutions and empirical performance targets. A clear path forward with measurable benchmarks should be the standard.
The Corporate Executive Board, for instance, vets potential best practices by asking critical questions:
"Did it result in distinctive benefit? Was the level of investment to create the solution less than the benefit that was created?" — Conrad Schmidt, Executive Director and Chief Research Officer of HR Practice, Corporate Executive Board
This focus on measurable results ensures that solutions provide a positive economic difference.
The Goal: Continuous Improvement
These six factors enable world-class benchmarking organizations to identify workable solutions and build collaborative communities. In a dynamic global environment, the optimal strategic position is one of constant movement toward improvement. The best providers leverage both existing best practices and collaborative alliances to innovate, helping organizations evolve and become more effective.