Performance management and incentive design for Fibre Installation Companies: distance, quality and handover
Paying for metres laid is easy. Paying for metres that pass test and stay working is harder, and matters more.
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Share your requirementsWhy performance management and incentive design matters in fibre installation companies
Many contractors measure crews by distance laid per day, since it is easy to count. A crew that hurries produces output but also weak joints, damaged ducts and rework. The cost shows up later, when the operator rejects a section or a fault appears, and the crew has already moved on.
A fairer measure combines three things: output, quality (test results and rework) and discipline (safety, attendance and report on time). The crew supervisor is judged on all three. Incentives, if any, are paid on the combined result, and reviewed with the crew each month.
How to set it up
1. Choose three or four measures
For example metres laid, joints passing test the first time, rework hours and safety observations. Avoid long lists.
2. Record which crew did what
Each joint or segment carries the crew name, so results can be traced and discussed.
3. Review monthly with each crew
Show the numbers on one page, ask the crew what slowed them and agree one thing to change.
4. Design the incentive carefully
Pay a portion on quality and safety, not only distance. Explain how it is worked out and pay it on a set date.
5. Review supervisors on the same basis
Include crew retention, reports on time and the supervisor's own coaching of helpers. Keep the performance management process simple.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Look at the last route's rework hours by crew.
- Ask crews what they think is measured and what they think should be.
- Check whether any incentive paid in the last quarter rewarded speed at the expense of quality.
- Compare test pass rates for two crews on similar terrain.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach performance management and incentive design in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Not by itself, but a rate based on distance alone invites hurry. Combine it with quality and safety measures so that rework costs the crew as well.
Compare each crew against its own route type, and use terrain bands so a crew on rock is not judged against one on soft soil.
The project manager and the supervisor, together, with a clear one-page record. Include crew members in a short discussion so the numbers are understood.