It’s true that businesses exist to make a profit, and that there are cold, hard numbers to determine just how financially successful a business is. But are these figures the only way to measure success?

As Inc reports, Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and head of global hospitality for Airbnb, put it this way: “In any business, we measure cash flow, profitability, and a few other key metrics. But what are the tangible and intangible assets that we have no means of measuring, but that truly differentiate our business? These may be things like the company’s reputation, employee engagement, and the brand’s emotional resonance with people inside and outside the business.”

Should tracking go beyond just the numbers?

Are there aspects of a business that can’t simply have a number slapped on them, but are still a good indicator of the health and success of a business? The answer is yes. Qualitative information can often be hugely telling when it comes to the overall health of a company and can shed light on aspects related to the overall health of a business that can’t be measured by simply tracking the numbers. But these qualitative aspects are not as easy to track as the crisp numbers, performance indicators, and reliable calculations by which most business success is gauged. Furthermore, as McKinsey & Company reports based on the results of research they conducted between 2003 and 2011, the healthier a company is, the higher the profits.

How to measure the health of your company

What makes a healthier company? What aspects of a business are difficult to measure but are integral to the success of your business at least as much as the hard numbers of profit? There are quite a few of them.

Employee satisfaction

What makes an employee happy? What makes them satisfied in their role? And how do you measure that happiness and satisfaction? The traditional way to determine if employees are happy has been to conduct ad hoc and routine surveys. Forbes reports on a system that asks questions but keeps it short and sweet.

Questions to ask employees daily:

• What their mood was when they arrived at work
• What their mood was when they left work
• The extent to which they enjoyed their work tasks that day

There are also companies that provide software and apps, such as Celpax, that can be used to measure how an employee’s day was. Of course, surveys are still used, but open discussions with employees can also provide a lot of data. This can be done in weekly and monthly team meetings, building trust between employees and management.

Supplier satisfaction

This aspect might be overlooked, but if your business relies on suppliers, then this is an incredibly important piece of the success puzzle. In fact, Entrepreneur.com points out that your relationship with your suppliers should be taken as seriously as your relationship with your customers.

Again, this relationship and your suppliers’ satisfaction are difficult to measure, and surveys are the primary source of data on how satisfied a supplier is in a buyer-supplier relationship. Even just a few questions, perhaps posed with each order or monthly, can make a difference.

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Ask suppliers questions such as:

• Are they happy with the timeliness of your payment?
• Are they happy with the lead time you provided for your order?
• Are they satisfied with the overall relationship, and if not, what they would change?

Remember, if your suppliers aren’t happy, your customers will bear the brunt of that dissatisfaction. Satisfied suppliers mean better quality, quicker delivery, better prices, and increased innovation. This all leads to increased profits.

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