Depending on the KPI, performance targets may be cumulative (i.e. budget for the year is the sum of budgets for each month) or constant (i.e. budget for the year is the budget as at the end of the year). Cumulative budget figures are in dollars per month (unless otherwise stated).
As with other mechanisms in ContactsLaw, performance targets operate as
date-dependant settings. This means that any month without an explicitly-defined budget will use the figure from the previous period (and so on, until a figure is found). Changes to figures for a given period may, therefore, affect subsequent periods. An option is also available to suspend budgeting for a given period, as an alternative to setting a $0 budget (note that some KPIs will revert to a default figure if budgeting is suspended).
Target scopes
Performance targets can be defined at the following levels:
- For a member within a specific company
- For a workgroup across all companies in which it is available
Performance targets can be also be viewed (but not defined) at the following levels:
- For a particular member across all companies (company targets are summed together)
- For all members and all workgroups across all companies (workgroup targets are summed together)
Special member budgets
The sales and time recorded metrics are handled in a special manner at the member level: Rather than setting a target in dollars per month (as used at practice, department and workgroup levels), the member figure is expressed as a percentage of total hours worked during the period.
ContactsLaw draws upon practice settings and leave records to determine the number of working days in each month for full-time employees. For variable-hours employees, the additional working hours budget allows members' hours to be anticipated at the start of each month. Both types of employees require values for the rate per hour budget. ContactsLaw combines working hours, rate per hour and the percentage budget for sales/time recorded to produce an effective budget in dollars per month.
The advantage of this approach is that short months, public holidays and annual leave do not have a negative impact upon a member's performance.
Permissions
Appropriate permissions are required in order to manage performance targets:
- System administrators have unrestricted access.
- Members with the practice-level 'edit practice targets' permission can edit all performance targets.
- Members with the practice-level 'edit member targets' permission can edit performance targets at the member scope for themselves and any members they supervise (see member relationships).
- Workgroup managers and members with the workgroup-level 'edit performance targets' permission can edit targets for that particular workgroup.