Many Service Desk managers are unaware of the critical role – beyond mere measurement – that Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can and should play in the Service Desk. Are you making these two common mistakes? 1) not tracking the right KPIs, and 2) not exploiting the full potential of Service Desk KPIs as a diagnostic tool. Here are 5 important IT Service Desk metrics to measure and monitor.Agent SatisfactionAgent Satisfaction (along with FCR) drives customer satisfaction; it drives agent turnover; and it drives agent absenteeism. More importantly, if we can control Agent Satisfaction (which we can), then we can drive positive improvements in customer satisfaction, turnover, and absenteeism. Inasmuch as improvements in Agent Satisfaction can reduce agent turnover, it can also reduce the costs associated with turnover. Click here for key drivers of Agent Satisfaction.First Level Resolution RateFirst Level Resolution Rate is a cost metric. It strongly influences the Total Cost of Ownership for end-user support. The cost of resolution increases at each successive level for a number of reasons, including longer handle times, and higher salaries at support levels above the service desk. So, for example, a ticket that might be resolved in 10 minutes at Level 1, could take 30 minutes or more to resolve at Level 2 because it requires a visit to the site of the user. Learn more about this important metric here.First Contact Resolution RateA high FCR is almost always associated with high levels of customer satisfaction. FCR is a key driver – in fact, the most important driver – of Customer Satisfaction. But what drives FCR? If a service desk wants to improve FCR, how would they go about it? Click here to find out.Agent UtilizationJust as world-class service desks are obsessive about maintaining high customer satisfaction levels, they are equally committed to keeping their costs in check. They do this primarily by maintaining tight control over agent utilization. Whenever agent utilization rates approach 60% – 70 %, a service desk will experience relatively high agent turnover because they are pushing the agents too hard. Extremely high utilization leads to burnout, high turnover, and low morale in the service desk. Click here for a simple formula.Cost per ContactCost per Contact is one of the most important Service Desk metrics. It is a measure of how efficiently your Service Desk conducts its business. A higher than average Cost per Contact is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if accompanied by higher than average quality levels. Conversely, a low Cost per Contact is not necessarily good, particularly if the low cost is achieved by sacrificing Call Quality or service levels. Every Service Desk should track and trend Cost per Contact on a monthly basis.What are the next steps?It is absolutely critical to understand that when it comes to Service Desk measurement and management, less really is more! Take the handful of metrics that really matter and use a balanced scorecard to track the overall performance of the Service Desk. Think of the balanced scorecard as your letter grade for the month! Click here for a simple six step process to create your service desk balanced scorecard.Are these the 5 metrics that should make up my balanced scorecard?No. There are other metrics you should include. Download our whitepaper “The Seven Most Important Service Desk Key Performance Indicators” to learn more. For a more comprehensive overview into Service Desk metrics, download our eBook “Introduction to Service Desk metrics”.
