Our favourite KPI was an egg stain

Written by Phil Hayes from Hayes Collins Media Ltd

“If you can get Councillor Jones to stop wearing that egg-stained cardigan for TV interviews then this day will have been a total success,” said the head of communications for the local authority that we were visiting.

In business, people talk a lot about Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and over the years we’ve managed to hit and exceed all sorts of measures we’ve been set in tenders and contracts, whether based on scores from feedback forms or our speed at responding to emails and to telephone calls. However, the egg stained cardi was a new one for us.

But odd though the measure may sound, that head of communications had a very sensible reason for asking for - we respond differently to advice, depending on who is talking to us.

It can be hard for someone in an organisation to ‘speak truth to power’ when advising the big boss, but it has to be done. There’s no point letting your finance director do an interview with dandruff on his shoulders that shows up on camera and gives a slovenly impression. Far better to tell him about it beforehand or, even better, ask to brush it away yourself and take charge of his appearance, avoiding viewer distractions and showing your attention to detail.

In more subtle areas of communications though, seniors may choose to ignore or downplay internal advice, and that’s when bringing in specialists can pay dividends. Without the barriers of hierarchy or personal relationships, advice from outside is much more likely to land and be acted upon.

And as for Councillor Jones? Did he leave that cardigan in the wardrobe in favour of something more professional? I’d better get in contact with that head of communications and find out…