I agree, But what if we looked at a job where productivity should be much easier to define, like a roofer.
An obvious performance metric would be "Time it takes to install a roof that will pass a quality inspection". That metric is pretty useless alone though. Can he fix a nail gun that breaks? How safe is he? Can he work as fast in cold weather? are just a few factors.
Say you could get metrics for ALL productivity factors, you still haven't taken into account personality issues that cannot be quantified.
And this is for a single person working on a measurable task with only a few tools. What chance is there for metrics to be accurate about a task that could require any number of tools, multiple correct answers, and collaboration?
An obvious performance metric would be "Time it takes to install a roof that will pass a quality inspection". That metric is pretty useless alone though. Can he fix a nail gun that breaks? How safe is he? Can he work as fast in cold weather? are just a few factors.
Say you could get metrics for ALL productivity factors, you still haven't taken into account personality issues that cannot be quantified.
And this is for a single person working on a measurable task with only a few tools. What chance is there for metrics to be accurate about a task that could require any number of tools, multiple correct answers, and collaboration?