ABSTRACT
Performance measurement is the process through which an organisation monitors and evaluates the success of its pre-established goals and objectives (Ammons, 1995). The adoption of a performance measurement philosophy is necessary today for leisure organisation managers, since there are certain changes in the global business environment that need to be considered. Neely (1999) summarised these changes as follows:
Increasing competition. As a result, managers need to work on the development of differentiation strategies for their organisations, related to service quality, flexibility, customisation, innovation and rapid change. The collection of marketing data and the setting of specific goals are necessary in order for the above strategies to be developed. According to Neely (1999), increased competition has also pressed organisations to downsize, by eliminating middle management employees and empowering their front line employees. In order for empowerment to be successful in leisure organisations, structured communication and consultation with front line employees is required, within the framework of pre-established, mutually agreed goals and objectives;
Specific improvement initiatives, such as the application of total quality management and the different ISO systems. The adoption of these initiatives requires the design and implementation of specific organisational processes, in which goals, objectives and criteria have a particular role; and
Changes in consumer demands, needs and expectations. The leisure consumer today is demanding, because she/he is experienced and knowledgeable regarding leisure product choices. In some cases consumers not only expect high levels of service, but also expect firms to meet their individualised needs. It is, therefore, important for leisure managers to ensure good design of the leisure product and good delivery, through a well-developed performance evaluation system (O’Mara, Hyland, & Chapman, 1998).
Performance measures can be developed for different areas within the management and marketing of the organisation. According to Torkildsen (2005), they can be placed in one of the four following categories: input; efficiency; effectiveness; and outcome indicators. Input indicators relate to the resources being available and used by the management – these might relate to staff; facilities; equipment; technology; total budget, etc. Efficiency measures relate to the output achieved in relation to the amount of resources used. In other words, it is related to the optimisation of facilities; it is measured by a number of indicators or ratios of inputs to outputs. Examples of these indicators are: cost per customer; cost per square metre of facility space; income per customer, etc. Effectiveness on the other hand, is measured by the extent to which the organisational objectives have been met. These objectives might relate to different areas within the organisation, such as operations; marketing; human resource management; service delivery; finance, etc. Concepts such as customer satisfaction, service quality perceptions, employees’ development, customer diversity, customer targeting, profitability, organisational growth and facility accessibility are among the criteria proposed to be tested for measuring effectiveness (Slack and Parent, 2006). Finally, outcomes relate to more holistic measures of service achievements, for example in communities, such as improved health. Once again, outcomes relate to the specific settings of each organisation. In any case, it is important for organisations to select appropriate measures for performance in order to help them achieve their strategic objectives (O’Mara, Hyland and Chapman, 1998).