Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your organisation's performance with other organisations, or your own past achievements.

There are many different approaches to benchmarking, to suit all sizes and types of organisations, from informal chats with colleagues over the phone, to large-scale benchmarking clubs. There are also many benefits, which is why benchmarking is increasingly seen as a simple and valuable way of learning and improving for organisations.

Benefits

By taking a look at how other people do things and the results they achieve, benchmarking can save you from re-inventing the wheel. It can provide organisations with reassurance, because it can show where an organisation is performing well. Benchmarking also shows what is possible and can help to promote an organisational culture that is open to new ideas.

What you can benchmark

You can benchmark any aspect of your organisation's operations, for instance, comparing numerical information such as the cost per user of providing a service or the average length of time served by trustees. Alternatively, you can compare how things are done, such as the way an organisation plans strategically or the way its accounts are presented.

When to do it

Benchmarking can be beneficial for all kinds of organisations and at all stages of development. You might particularly think about benchmarking when:

you are involved in strategic thinking or planning
you are carrying out a review of your services
you are implementing quality improvements
your organisation is failing to reach agreed performance targets
users are dissatisfied with the services you provide
information from other organisations suggests the need for change.

Benchmarking might not be for you right now if your organisation is fundamentally unwilling to change or if it is undergoing a period of crisis and has other priorities to deal with.