05 Oct 2010
Perception: Are performance and perception aligned?
This is the sixth in a series of seven brief blogs on the subject of Value Assurance – best defined as an effective route to maximising value in a long term outsourcing agreement, through aligning service expectations, perceptions and realities. A Value Assurance exercise typically involves a review of both service provider and client in equal measure. It takes a more holistic view than benchmarking alone and includes and assesses 6 ‘Ps’. The fifth of which, ‘Perception’, is discussed in this blog.
If you’re currently managing an outsourcing relationship, analysing the ‘6P’ areas of a relationship is an excellent way to move the performance of the contract towards an optimal state – typically, but not always, this means from a transactional to a true partnership relationship. Organisations I have advised have found the process beneficial regardless of whether they’re at the beginning, middle or nearing the end of a contract.
‘Perception’
The perception of the relationship within both your service provider’s organisation and your own should be carefully managed. There should be a clear alignment between the perception of performance, the actual performance being delivered and the expectations of what is to be delivered within the contract. This perception should be proactively managed at all levels. It’s not uncommon for the actual performance and the perception of performance to vary greatly – and this needs to be addressed.Perception management: Is the perception of the performance of the outsourcing contract being actively managed across all stakeholders within your organisation and the service provider’s?
Perception measurement: Is the perception of stakeholders being measured? This may not seem an obvious candidate for measurement, but is incredibly valuable.
Communication: Is clear communication taking place to accurately establish what the current perception is across the various stakeholders?Add your comment
Reader comments
I think perception truly matters in any business relationship and it's great you have raised this point as many have simply forgotten about it in the long run. Now, what I'm wondering is how this perception will be measured on a fair ground, since it can be based on subjective analysis - minus supporting facts. Thanks for the sharing though!
Posted by: Ajeva 12 Oct 2010
I agree with the importance of perception in an outsourcing relationship. Benchmarking can bring facts to the table which help to manage perception, particulary around price and performance.
However, 'value' still remains a key expectation that a client has of its outsourcing service provider, which can be viewed in 2 ways:
1. quantitative measures of how the business runs better (e.g. lower cost per product sold)
2. qualitative measures of what value is expected and delivered (e.g.how much innovation was provided to the client by the vendor)
The second type (which needs to be asked of client and vendor) may be less tangible, but can often be the one that provides the means to build a more sustainable relationship!
Posted by: Howard Davies, ProBenchmark 12 Oct 2010
The purpose of benchmarking anything is to compare your company or goods to others, to see how you are measuring up, according to different metrics. That way you know if you are doing better or worse, and what you need to improve. Examples would be service, response time, etc.
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[url=http://chipremier.com/]CHI-Premier[/url] | UK IT Outsourcing | UK IT Consultancy
Posted by: CHI-Premier 18 Mar 2011
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