Today, the most successful businesses aren’t just growing – they’re evolving.
It’s no longer just about adding more people, increasing revenue, or expanding operations. The real question is: Are you measuring the past or shaping the future?
In our previous discussion on supercharging business growth, we explored how businesses can overcome barriers to scale. Now, we’re looking ahead. What does the future of growth and outsourcing look like? And how can businesses stay competitive?
Reframing productivity: Why traditional metrics fall short
Traditionally, organisations have measured staff productivity through lagging metrics – tracking hours worked, tasks completed, or revenue earned. These measurements look backward to assess performance and don’t indicate future success.
The problem with lagging metrics
Let’s say a company brings an accountant, a marketer, and a developer on board. Using lagging metrics, their productivity might be measured like this:
- The accountant logs 7.2 hours per day
- The marketer posts five social media updates per week
- The developer submits a project on time
On paper, they’re productive. But just because an employee has been actively engaged for 7.2 hours out of 8 doesn’t mean they’re 90% productive. It means that 90% of that time was utilised. But have they utilised that time efficiently? Did the business save any money? Did they get any further throughput? Are they moving the business forward?
The shift to leading metrics
Leading metrics look ahead at future performance and impact. Instead of focusing on task-based metrics, like tickets closed, they focus on outcome-based metrics that measure true impact. This approach prioritises value creation, like customer satisfaction, market expansion, and profitability – over simply checking tasks off a list.
Here’s what measuring these roles looks like now:
Accountant. Why did the company hire an accountant in the first place? Is it because they are struggling with payables and receivables? Instead of tracking hours worked, measure how efficiently invoices are processed and receivables collected. Faster cash flow means stronger financial stability.
Marketer. Are social media efforts leading to valuable conversations and conversions? How much output do we need to generate to achieve the engagement we want? Instead of tracking post volume, measure the depth of audience engagement and conversion.
Developer. Rather than just completing projects on time, assess their work’s quality, scalability and reusability. How accurate is the code? Did they create intellectual property that improves future efficiency?
This shift ensures businesses aren’t just keeping busy – they’re making a real impact.
The evolution of outsourcing: From cost-cutting to strategic partnerships
In the past, businesses operated with a build-it-myself mindset. Then, outsourcing became a cost-saving strategy – offloading tasks to external providers to cut expenses.
Today, the best outsourcing relationships are no longer transactional. Strategic partnerships enable shared investment in success, deeper collaboration, and access to insights that drive efficiency and innovation. By aligning goals, businesses and their partners can achieve scalable and sustainable growth together.
For example, a business might be brilliant at product distribution but lack expertise in digital platforms or sales intelligence. Instead of struggling to build these capabilities in-house, they can partner with specialists who elevate their operation.
The Omada One process: Crawl, walk, run
Too often, we see teams relying on outdated performance metrics, believing that small efficiency gains – like improving response times – translate to meaningful growth. Overachieving doesn’t translate to sustained business growth if you’re measuring the wrong indicators. When key performance indicators (KPIs) measure activity instead of impact, they create a false sense of progress.
That’s why we take a phased approach to measuring, reassessing, refining, and retiring KPIs as businesses evolve.
Our methodology is called “crawl, walk, run.”
We start by understanding the problem, always asking, “How do you want to measure this?” first.
The Crawl phase is all about getting to know our clients and them getting to know us. At the same time, to truly understand their business, we measure everything – not just a standard set of metrics, but deeper insights into efficiency, scalability, and impact.
In the Walk phase, we refine the approach. Before progressing, we re-evaluate every KPI, discarding outdated ones and introducing new leading measures that provide better insight into performance and growth. We get a clear understanding of how to better manage people, refine their roles, and solve the core problems our customers face.
The Run phase is where businesses are set up to scale. At this stage, we adjust KPIs again to ensure they align with long-term growth. This is when businesses start to expand teams, increase revenue, and drive impact, all guided by leading metrics.
KPIs are not set and forget. Future-ready businesses are those that already know their leading metrics. Businesses that fall behind are those looking backward.
With the right metrics and approach, businesses can drive meaningful growth, optimise performance, and stay ahead of the competition. By understanding what truly earns you success, be that money or satisfaction, you can determine the next right move to increase and expand that success.
Omada One is helping businesses across the world fill critical roles, scale effectively, and achieve lasting success. If you’re ready to explore how outsourcing can support your growth, get in touch with the Omada One team.
