Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

It is December, the month of the year! The month which I usually spend to prep myself for the next 12 months of 2018. I have a week apparently to complete my 2017 checklist and hope to get most of the things done by December 31st or earlier. Time is the biggest enemy now and I feel the pressure to accomplish my 2017 resolutions due to unforeseen circumstances. My utmost concern is on my KPI at work. I was so stressed out these past few months with the overwhelming tasks given and I am now in a constant worry about the result. Being a result-driven person; this KPI thingy really catches my nerves. Am I not doing enough? What should I do in a week to catch up? A lengthy post this will be as I am digging as much information as I can while assessing myself. This is evaluation time, baby! 

The truth is...

I love what I am doing now in fact I have done pretty well in most of the tasks given. However, I still feel that I am lacking of something to drive me further to a different level of me. I need more challenging tasks and I require a fast pace working environment. But I would not be able to get it here. Now. It demotivates me and this situation affects my KPI indirectly. I want to perform in each of the criteria but there is a restriction in the environment and I am not happy with that. 

But I am not giving up...

I have the checklist prepared since January 2017 and I am monitoring the progress closely thus I am confident that I will achieve the result that I want by end of the year. Everything went well as planned and I was quite satisfied with my achievement thus far. Unfortunately things turned out differently somewhere in August 2017. A different KPI must be met and I was so not ready. I have this difficulty to adapt to shortcomings and that is my problem. I want everything to go as planned, MY PLAN. I will eliminate those obstacles as much as I can within my limit. I will find a way to execute MY PLAN because I am responsible for MY PLAN. But I forgot that the environment is one of the contributors to the success or failure of MY PLAN. There goes my motivation...

What do I need now? 

Motivation is the driving force which causes us to achieve goals and it is said to be either extrinsic or intrinsic. Cohen & Swerdlik (2010) described motivation in the workplace as stemming from incentives that are either primarily internal or primarily external in origin. Employees who seem to be driven by a passionate interest in their work, having a deep level of enjoyment and involvement in what they do are described as intrinsically motivated. On the other hand, tangible rewards i.e. salary, bonuses, vacations and holiday with pay, pensions and sick benefits are the driving force for extrinsically motivated employees, claimed Amabile et al (1994).

To me, there is a certain extent whereby I need to be extrinsically motivated. Salary and recognition are important to achieve a certain level of satisfaction but at the end of the day, those are just material and temporary to me. Being in a higher position with a better pay shall put you in a condition whereby tangible rewards is considered secondary. The real force must come from within. I chose to be in this industry with a zero knowledge and experience. I have learned a lot throughout my journey and I found myself changing from the way I look at things. 

I am not financially intelligent. I don't like numbers but I have to learn how numbers work here. Numbers is really important and a good result is proven by the figures. Knowing it is one of the KPI, I have to make sure I hit the targeted figures every month by any means. Along the way I came across frustration, irritation and dissatisfaction but it didn't stop me from getting it accomplished of course in my own way. The power of psychology! It is workable though! Not to mention that I have to understand how to operate and maintain a building which is so alien to me. All mechanical and technical jargons to be learned too and believe me, I felt like a loser every time we had any operations meetings because of the little knowledge that I have but I enjoyed learning those things. I have no regrets because I have tried at least to learn and accept new knowledge and this has actually build up my passion in what I am doing now.

So, what is my action plan?

1. The KPI is just a guideline. Don't stress myself out of this KPI especially those criteria which I can't control. 
2. Separate the KPI from January 2017 to August 2017 and September 2017 to December 2017. This is tricky but I need to evaluate myself in two different period. Just to satisfy myself that I have done my best regardless of the change of KPI.
3. Manage any unfinished business for 2017 before year end (if possible).
4. Stay contented with my work and keep the daily routine running.
5. Last but not least, have a Plan B, C or D! Haha..

Basically, we need both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to keep us moving and living the life we want to be. At the end of the day, it always comes back to us; the answer lies within ourselves. A lot of factors can contribute to one's motivation and there is no right or wrong if you are someone who is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. You can be both at the same time, no one will question because each of us travels in a different path. The experience, feeling and challenges are not the same. But how you react to those will determine the type of motivation that you need.

The end. Thank you! =)