Beyond the Numbers: Redefining Employee Value | Simin Askari | Sr. VP -HR and Business Excellence | DS Group

As a leader in business, I’ve engaged with various performance management systems, including dashboards and scorecards. For a long time, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were our primary tools for tracking progress, assessing efficiency, and aligning teams with company objectives. They provide a clear framework, enable comparisons, and offer a tangible sense of accomplishment. Yet, over time, I’ve come to a crucial realization: KPIs alone don’t fully capture an employee’s true worth.

I’ve observed many top performers consistently surpass their KPI targets quarter after quarter. However, I’ve also encountered individuals whose significant contributions aren’t reflected in the numbers. These are the culture builders, the quiet pillars of support, those who mentor colleagues discreetly, stabilize the team during challenging periods, or foresee problems long before they appear on any dashboard. Their impact is profound, but an exclusive focus on KPIs could easily lead us to overlook it entirely.

The real value of an employee is multifaceted. It extends beyond mere output to encompass how work is done and its broader effect on the organizational ecosystem. For instance, someone who consistently helps train new team members, discreetly resolves conflicts, or brings a calming presence to chaotic situations might not have “mentorship” in their job description. Still, they are vital for team stability. When we consider long-term retention, succession planning, or overall culture health, their importance becomes undeniable.

Another often underestimated aspect is the ability to influence beyond one’s immediate responsibilities. In recent years, I’ve seen younger professionals take the initiative to collaborate across departments, champion digital transformation, or simply ask insightful questions that spark innovative thinking. These roles may not directly impact revenue, but they generate momentum. I believe that the capacity to offer constructive challenges and bridge departmental divides is a strong indicator of leadership potential, a quality rarely measured by KPI metrics.

A particularly insightful experience for me occurred during a major transformation initiative. We were piloting digital automation in a process traditionally performed manually. The person who eventually became the internal champion wasn’t the one with the best performance metrics. His willingness to learn, mobilize peers, and troubleshoot directly with the tech teams was instrumental in making the rollout a success. It was then I understood how limiting it would have been to evaluate him solely on delivery metrics.

KPIs also struggle with context. Performance doesn’t happen in isolation. Someone working in a new team or a volatile market might have lower numbers, but the effort they invest in steadying the situation or rebuilding trust cannot be captured by a metric. As leaders, we need to ask ourselves: are we seeing the complete picture, or are we just interpreting the data at face value?

I’ve also noticed that many emerging leadership qualities are intangible but incredibly valuable. These include empathy, resilience, adaptability, and curiosity. They manifest in how someone navigates change, supports colleagues during tough times, or handles uncertainty. None of these can be neatly plotted on a graph, yet these are precisely the qualities businesses need more of as they evolve.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting we abandon KPIs. They are crucial for maintaining focus, ensuring accountability, and achieving strategic alignment. However, we should view them as just one part of a larger narrative. When we complement KPIs with qualitative assessments, peer feedback, an understanding of mentoring impact, and even informal recognition, we start to form a more complete and accurate understanding of who is truly propelling our organization forward.

I’ve also observed that when employees feel valued not just for their quantifiable contributions, but for who they are and how they contribute beyond their assigned tasks, their engagement deepens. They collaborate more, voice their ideas more freely, and invest more in long-term growth, both their own and the organization’s.
This fosters trust, loyalty, and a stronger sense of ownership.

In an era characterized by hybrid work models, generational shifts, and rapid digital acceleration, I believe we must evolve how we define performance and potential. Relying solely on output metrics risks overlooking the very individuals who hold our teams together, cultivate our culture, and drive us into the future.

When I consider an employee’s value, I no longer look only at dashboards. Instead, I ask: “Who uplifts others?” “Who is subtly influencing outcomes?” “Who is learning, unlearning, and helping others grow?” These are the individuals who may not always top the charts, but they are the ones we need to build resilient and enduring organizations.