Developing key performance indicators
Overview
This guidance has been produced to support Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and their teams with using the performance standards to help them develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of their activities and to support them in setting targets and helping them to baseline their performance.
The guidance covers:
- Why have KPIs?
- How to develop KPIs
Why have KPIs?
A KPI is a quantifiable measure that can be used to demonstrate performance against key objectives and priorities.
There are several reasons that KPIs are important:
- They can show progress towards goals and targets
- They can help identify improvement opportunities
- They can support accountability to stakeholders by enabling reporting on performance
Characteristics of a good KPI
Well-developed KPIs will support the ERO and their team to demonstrate what difference their work is making, which in turn demonstrates performance against the outcomes set out in the performance standards.
Using the ‘SMART’ method, a KPI should be:
Specific - Clear and focused towards performance targets
Measurable - Can be recorded and used to report on
Achievable - Targets are reasonable and attainable
Realistic - Directly relevant to the work being done
Time-bound - Can be measured over a given timeframe
How to develop KPIs
The performance standards framework supports a step-by-step process to define your KPIs. It sets out clear outcomes that EROs should be seeking to achieve and the activities that EROs are likely to undertake in order to be able to deliver those outcomes. Taking into account the activities you undertake and the data you have available to you, you can develop KPIs that help demonstrate the impact of registration activities, and the difference they have made towards the overall outcomes as set out in the performance standards.
In addition to this guidance, we have also developed a resource on using data, which includes information on accessible local data on population and housing, outlining what is available and where it can be accessed.
It is not always straightforward to measure directly the impact of activities and there are many variables which can have an effect, many outside the EROs control. However, by using commentary and narrative to explain the data it is still possible to demonstrate what your work is achieving. Reporting will also allow you to provide the context of wider challenges for electoral registration that exist in your area.
Monitoring and reporting
Once you have established your KPI’s, you will be able to monitor and report on progress against them. Collation and analysis of data will give you a good understanding of your performance against the KPIs that you set and will give you an indication whether the activities that you have been carrying out have been effective and whether any changes to these need to be made.
The frequency of how often you report on progress will vary for each KPI, depending on the appropriateness of when to collate and analyse the data. In some instances you would want to be looking more frequently at results, such as on a monthly basis, and for others you may consider to report on a quarterly or yearly basis.
Setting targets
Once you have identified your KPIs you can then set a target – a level of performance that you are aiming to reach in the future, whether this be monthly, quarterly or yearly or a specific period of time following a particular activity.
For example, if the KPI is about levels of additions to the register from a particular hard to reach group, such as, for example, attainers, to establish a target you will need to consider what the starting point is for this group – do you know the current levels of registration for this group? What activity is being carried out? Are there any previous patterns in data for this group? How are you going to measure any change? For some under-registered groups, where there is no way to identify them from information on the registers, it might be helpful to use proxy measures. For example, if you know that a particular ward or polling district has a large population of a particular under-registered group then data for the whole area could serve as a proxy measure.
Taking this all into account you can then set a target for the number of additions that you would want to see over a set period or following a particular activity to encourage registration from these groups.
It may not always be the case that you want to see an increase, in other instances you may want to maintain the same level or there could be something that you want to reduce.
By measuring your performance in the specific period of time (i.e. year one/month one) this will then provide a baseline for your KPIs.
The baseline for a KPI is the average level of performance that you are currently at. Once you have a baseline you will be able to track over time and compare future performance levels with your baseline, to test if performance is really changing and improving.
Baselining your performance against KPIs will also enable you to review your performance and assess where improvements can be made. You will then be able to set appropriate local targets for your future performance, which will support you to continue refining and improving your performance and consequently showing further achievements towards the overall outcomes of the framework.
Worked examples
Below we have provided examples of how EROs and their teams can use the performance standards to help them develop their own KPIs. It is not an exhaustive list, but instead has been developed to support EROs in determining their own KPIs – the measures and information listed being examples that can be used to build up the picture of performance for each activity.
Example 1
The first outcome in the standards is that Electoral registers are as accurate and complete as possible, ensuring that everyone who is eligible and wants to vote is able to do so.
One of the impacts you are trying to achieve is that potential new electors are identified and are given every opportunity to register to vote and you will undertake certain activities to support this, such as contacting potential eligible electors, including carrying out work to target hard to reach groups.
You will first need to identify the groups that need particular engagement activity. Your target groups may be distributed evenly across the authority, for example attainers, while others, such as students or private renters, may be concentrated in particular wards or neighbourhoods.
Once you have identified these groups you will then be able to set targets for specific additions in that group, over a period of time that you will be carrying out the activity.
The information you will need to understand how well this is going may include:
- Number of potential electors identified through data analysis
- Number of ITRs sent
- Number of additions and deletions, during the canvass and throughout the year
The changes in levels of registration within and across the registration area both generally and within identified under registered groups will help to indicate whether your activities have been effective or not, and you can measure this through KPIs such as qualitative assessment of whether you have identified all under-registered groups in the registration area, additions and deletions to the register for specific groups/areas.
The first outcome in the standards is that Electoral registers are as accurate and complete as possible, ensuring that everyone who is eligible and wants to vote is able to do so.
One of the impacts you are trying to achieve is that the demographics of the registration area and the needs of groups of electors within it are understood, enabling services to be targeted and designed to meet the needs of residents and you will undertake certain activities to support this, such as using available data and information sources, identify those not registered, including hard to reach groups.
The information you will need to understand how well this is going may include:
- Analysis of the scope and usefulness of available data and information, for example does the data and information provide you with an understanding of the registration challenges in your area
- Ward level analysis of the registration area, for example, demographic information about residents.
- Identification of priority areas to target registration activity
The changes in levels of registration within and across the registration area, both generally and within identified under-registered groups will help to indicate whether your activities have been effective or not, and you can measure this through KPIs such as qualitative assessment of whether you have identified all under-registered groups in the registration area, additions and deletions within the target areas.
The first outcome in the standards is that Electoral registers are as accurate and complete as possible, ensuring that everyone who is eligible and wants to vote is able to do so.
One of the impacts you are trying to achieve is that changes in the registration status of individuals are captured and applied to the register in a timely manner and you will undertake certain activities to support this, such as administering the canvass.
The information you will need to understand how well this is going may include:
- Results of data matching (national and local)
- Number of households intended for each route
- Number of households canvassed, by route and channel
- Number of communications sent, by route and channel
- Number of responses by route and channel
At a headline level, an assessment of levels of additions and deletions, as a result of canvass activity and throughout the year, will indicate whether your activities have been successful or not. However there are other potential KPIs such as % households remaining in original route and % responses to canvass communications (by route).
The second outcome in the performance standards is that Absent voting is accessible, ensuring that everyone who is eligible and wants an absent vote is included on the relevant absent vote list.
One of the impacts you are trying to achieve is that changes to voting arrangements are captured and applied in a timely manner and you will undertake certain activities to support this such as process new applications.
The information you will need to understand how well this is going may include:
- Number of absent vote applications received by type (postal or proxy)
- Number of absent vote applications rejected
- Number of absent vote confirmations sent
- Assessment of the time spent on processing applications
Your performance against the KPIs/objectives set out in your plans will indicate whether your activities have been successful or not, and you can measure this through KPIs such as timeliness of application processing, % applications accepted/rejected and reasons for rejections, assessment on numbers and types of errors in the absent voter lists.
The third outcome in the performance standards is that Stakeholders and electors have confidence in the secure management of the electoral registers.
One of the impacts you are trying to achieve is that everyone who is entitled to be supplied with the register receives data on time and in an appropriate format and you will undertake certain activities to support this, such as securely supply the electoral register to recipients.
The information you will need to understand how well this is going may include:
- Number of requests received, number of requests approved and when supplied
- Audit trails showing how and when data has been transferred
- Processes to ensure cyber security
Your performance against the KPIs set out in your plans will indicate whether your activities have been successful or not, and you can measure this through KPI’s such as % of updates provided within target timeframes, and number of complaints from recipients in relation to provision of registers.