Driving the KPI

KEY performance indicators, which come in many forms, shapes and sizes, have been employed by the world's corporations and, for more than a decade, by government-linked companies in Malaysia. Most private sector managers are familiar with them. The measures are also no stranger to top civil servants, the directors-general, secretaries-general and department heads.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has taken the KPI one level higher, and adopted them for members of his cabinet and their deputies. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon has been busy the past six weeks working to come up with the indices for the ministers. Just as a stopwatch can't be used to compare a marathon runner with a gymnast, Koh has a different set of KPIs for each of his fellow ministers and their ministries. A more focused unit called Pemandu (Performance Management and Delivery Unit) would be set up to support each minister and ministry, Koh said.