Paul Veltman, founder of Velti Events, is all about giving his employees a reason to not be average. Event coordination is a highly competitive industry, particularly when you focus on blue chip clients and your differentiator isn’t price. You need to stand out from the crowd, and in Veltman’s opinion, that takes innovative, focused and motivated employees.
What was the main idea?
We wanted to create key performance indicators for each employee that aligned their five-year goals with the company’s growth.
These needed to work for everyone, but they also needed to offer enough of an incentive for employees to embrace.
It’s hard work, for them and us, but it means a bigger pay cheque (or additional time off) for them, and top-class staff for us, which ultimately means satisfied and loyal customers.
How are KPIs developed and monitored?
We first create a detailed job description for each employee in the company, from the CEO to the receptionist — everyone has their own KPIs. It’s important to state exactly what they do so that we can rate each element accurately.
In a small company with ambitious go-getters these need to be updated quarterly as job descriptions are constantly evolving. We then do monthly, quarterly and yearly reviews which are driven by the employees themselves.
They take us through their performance and how they rate themselves, which keeps them actively involved in their progress.
It’s time consuming, but the results — improved performance and client satisfaction — make the system worth it.
What types of KPIs have you implemented?
These are obviously easier for the account managers and sales managers who have specific targets that must be met, but for our event, promotion and campaign managers, we track performance, client and supplier feedback and time management, among other things.
One of our biggest objectives is to constantly source the latest and greatest suppliers, products and venues.
You need to be innovative to stay ahead of the game, and so each employee has targets they need to meet each month in terms of researching and sourcing new additions to our stable of suppliers. They then work with sales to package these new offerings for our clients, and with the project managers to ensure each event is delivered on time, to budget.
Vital Stats
- Player: Paul Veltman
- Company: Velti Events
- Est: 2010
- X-Factor: KPIs for everyone from the receptionist to the CEO keep the team performing at its peak.
Go to Velti Events for more information.
