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 Benchmarking is a practical tool for improving performance by learning from best practices and understanding the processes by which they are achieved.
 Benchmarking involves four basic steps:
Self-assess: to understand your own processes and performance in detail
Analyse: others' successful processes and performance
Compare: your performance with that of others you have analysed
Implement: the necessary changes to close the performance gap
Benchmarking does not mean simply copying other's practices, it requires the ability to innovate and adapt what you have learnt from others according to your organisation's specific needs. It is a dynamic process that evolves with growing experience, and with application to different organisational and cultural settings.
To benchmark successfully:
A shared, common vision of the performance improvement goals and objectives
Open and committed high level support
The commitment of all stakeholders in the process to progress and change
A willingness to examine critically one's own practices
The ability and willingness to co-operate and share information and expertise with others
To be able to learn from others' best practices
The flexibility to implement the necessary changes
Procedures to monitor subsequent progress
When applied appropriately, the lessons learnt from a benchmarking exercise can facilitate performance improvement in key areas of the business environment or in critical functions within an organisation.
Benchmarking can be applied to many different areas and at many different levels, ranging from the manufacturing industry to public service administration, at individual department or company level, as well as sectoral or policy level. Benchmarking has already been successfully implemented as a tool to improve performance in the private sector and, more recently, in the public sector by government administrations and other public
institutions.
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