Improving Productivity and Compliance in Back Office Operations

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Often the most underestimated, yet it is the backbone of the businesses- back-office operations is like the gearbox of the engine, for the vehicle called corporate. It keeps the businesses running. A little flaw in there and the consequences will linger across the board.

That said, it sounds unjust to not give the back office operations the due credit it holds in making a business run. In the same way, it would be partial to say that back-office operations are not taken care of. It is but in a different way. Companies invest in technologies to de-humanize their back office from the work demands.

Although such automation of the job does what it’s supposed to- automating the workflow, nonetheless, the matters of proficiency, productivity and work compliance of the employees remains un-optimized.

Popular web hosting and domain registrar company Go Daddy points out that being able to attain the goal of your success, it is crucial being able to measure the Key Performance Indicators or ‘KPIs’ to track the back office productivity. This is help identify where productivity is lagging or if it is so. Since productivity isn’t exactly tangible, it is a must to know which KPIs to measure to have a clear picture of the back office productivity.

Here are the Top 5 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) you can keep an eye on, to improve the back-office productivity, as suggested by Go Daddy.

1.   Check the time spent on inputting data and correcting the documents, per week.

By having a close look and monitoring the amount of time being spent on putting the data in the system and correcting the documents per week, will give an insight into the weaknesses in the accounting process, if there happens to be any. If there are shortcomings, maybe it’s time to alter the automation. This is needful to improve efficiency.

2.   Time is taken to process invoices and release the payments

This is indeed one of the most important aspects and is in a lot way associated with the success of the business. Processing the invoices is a vital function of the back office and any delay in it proves the shortcomings of the back office operations team. Monitoring the accounting team can give valuable insights into rectifying the shortcomings in delayed payments and cash flow among other issues. Delay in processing invoice, late payment fees and the like are unwanted when it comes to employee and supplier satisfaction.

3.   The gap in filling a vacancy

Vacancies are created and are sometimes made voluntarily. The HR department is responsible for sourcing the best fit for the role, as soon as possible, without compromising on the quality of the hire. Look out for the time it is taking by your HR department to fill a vacancy. Having an insight into the time-consuming process of hiring will give you an idea about the efficiency of the HR team. And polishing the HR is a must if better business results are to be achieved.

4.   Keeping a track on the customer satisfaction score

Keeping the customers delighted is by far the aim of every business there is. Back-office operations are a huge part in maintaining the delight-profile of the customers and therefore the reason to get every insight possible to check their satisfaction-quotient. Release survey forms, ask for instant feedback and keep an eye on the graph, that how well are the customers being served.

5.   Delivery time for a project

Is your team fast enough in delivering the project assigned? Fast should not be confused with sacrificed quality. It should be fast, yet qualified enough to awe the clients. Check the time in delivering a finished product and you once you’re able to make out any delay or can identify any shortcoming in the process, you can change that for good.

All these are the important metrics that must be closely dealt with if improving the back office productivity is the aim. The back office maybe not client-faced, but it is a very essential part of what makes the client-faced team look polished and professional, affecting the entire business.