To have any value, a benchmarking project must collect a variety of demographic data about the participating organizations. And this is what makes quality benchmarking so difficult.Ī well-defined comparison group allows you to gauge the relevance of the benchmark to your organization. What is the value of a staff turnover benchmark to a substance use treatment organization if the benchmark was generated using data from 100 arts nonprofits? A benchmark is only as valuable as its comparison integrity: the extent to which the comparison group matches the organization utilizing the benchmark to contextualize its performance. Understanding the comparison group is more than knowing the number of organizations which submitted data to the project their overall demographic profile is the best way to assess the benchmark’s value to your organization. The comparison group is comprised of the organizations participating in the benchmarking project. These calculations can include: minimum value, maximum value, average, median, standard deviation, quartiles/percentiles, and the interquartile range. A full set of descriptive statistics provide a nuanced but complex view of the data’s distribution it is the most illustrative method of describing benchmark data but can easily overwhelm most readers.Not sure what a normal or non-normal distribution is? No worries! The average and median will be extremely close if the data has a normal distribution, so-in any case-the median is always a safe bet. It is less susceptible to outliers and appropriate for data with a non-normal distribution. The median is the middle value in the data.The average is only appropriate for data with a normal distribution (the bell curve shape) and is sensitive to outliers in the data. The average or mean is the “typical” value in the data.This is the summary calculation and is typically an average, median, or-occasionally -a range of the sample. This measure demonstrates an organization’s ability to maintain a stable and qualified workforce and is calculated as: (Total number of employees at the start of the fiscal year minus the total number of employees who left) divided by the total number of employees at the start of the fiscal year.Ī well-defined metric is a strong indicator that all participating organizations calculated their figure consistently. Staff turnover is the rate of employees who leave an organization and are replaced by new employees in the stated fiscal year. Let’s use a common Human Resources measure, staff turnover, as an example: The metric should be clearly defined with a title, description, purpose, time period, and the underlying formula. You will need a strong definition of each to determine the value of a benchmark to your organization and should expect any quality benchmark report to outline them. These benchmarks are the most commonly available (often at a price) as they are standard in marketing software solutions and easy to calculate and share.Ī benchmark is composed of 3 basic elements: the metric, the benchmark value, and the comparison group. Examples include the open rate of an email seeking donations or giving rates by demographic categories. Fundraising/development benchmarks are measures of marketing and development success and efficiency.Related metrics speak to the foundational elements of an organization on which quality service delivery depends, and include staff retention rate, months cash on hand, or average board attendance rate. Administration and management benchmarks are measures of organizational health and stability and target human resource management, financial management, governance, and similar activities.They speak to the success of a program, service, or intervention. Examples include permanency in child welfare systems (such as these dashboards from the Minnesota Department of Human Services) or abstinence rate/reduction in use measures in substance use disorder treatment services. Outcomes benchmarks are complex measures of change in behavior, thinking, or status.Today, a benchmark is a summary calculation – typically an average or median – which attempts to tell us what is normal for a metric.īenchmarking within the human services sector usually comes in 3 flavors: The term benchmark comes from the marks made on wooden workbenches to indicate shoe size (for cobblers), the length of board needed (for carpenters), etc. Not much – unless you’re a craftsperson in antiquity. Benchmark reports are increasingly common in the human services sector, but how do you know if this data is valuable to your organization? This blog post provides an overview of benchmarking and tips for evaluating the quality of benchmark data available to you.
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