A job description tells people what to do. A KRA tells them what they own.
A job description tells people what to do, whereas a KRA tells them what they own. A KRA is the result a role is accountable for. A KPI is the number that shows whether it is being delivered.
- Job descriptionWhat the role does
- KRAThe result the role is accountable for
- KPIsA few numbers that show whether it is delivered
- ReviewsVisible results, reviewed to coach, not to punish
Made visible through short daily huddles and a monthly dashboard, measured on what the client feels.
Not long ago, I set up KRAs and KPIs for multiple roles across an organisation. Writing them was the easy part. The real work was sitting with each function until every role was linked to a result the business actually cared about.
Over the years, across distribution, trading and systems integration, I have seen good teams with talented people miss targets. It was rarely a lack of effort. More often, nobody was clear who owned the result.
What has worked for me
- Start with the role, not the person. Clear job descriptions first, then KRAs.
- Keep KPIs few. Three to five per role is plenty.
- Make it visible. Short daily huddles, across multiple tiers if required, and a monthly dashboard that teams across the organisation can see.
- Measure what the client feels. On-time delivery, response times and resolution times, not just activity.
- Review the results to coach, not to punish.
Where AI fits
AI is now changing how we create and track all this for the better. Dashboards update themselves, and patterns show up before the monthly review, so corrective actions can be started in any part of the business. But AI can only show the numbers. It still takes a leader to decide who owns them.
As AI takes over the reporting, how are you redefining what your teams own?