How to set KRAs for employees

KRA, KPI and task: the difference

A KRA names an area of results, such as store sales or payroll accuracy. A KPI is the number that shows how that area is doing, such as monthly sales against target or payroll errors per run. A task is an activity, such as opening the store by 9:45 am or uploading the attendance file. Tasks matter, but they belong in the job description and daily routine, not in the KRA sheet. If a line starts with a verb like 'prepare', 'attend' or 'send', it is probably a task.

Worked examples for three roles

Each set below has five KRAs weighted to 100, with more weight on the areas that take most of the person's time or matter most to the business. The role pages include sample KRAs and KPIs for many more jobs if you need a starting point.

• Store manager, Surat: sales 35, inventory accuracy and shrinkage 20, customer experience 15, team hiring and training 15, store compliance and hygiene 15
• Payroll executive: payroll accuracy 35, on-time processing 25, PF, ESI and professional tax deposits on time 20, employee query resolution 10, process improvement 10
• Maintenance engineer, plant: machine uptime 35, preventive maintenance completed on schedule 25, safety 20, spares cost 10, training of technicians 10

How many KRAs and how to weight them

Four to six KRAs is enough for almost any role. Fewer than four usually misses an important part of the job; more than six spreads attention thin. Weight each between 10 and 40, adding to 100. If a KRA deserves less than 10, it is probably a task and can be dropped. Roles in the same team can share one or two KRAs, such as customer experience for all counter staff, which encourages people to help each other rather than compete.

Mistakes when setting KRAs

KRA sheets are often written once and copied for years, which is how most of these problems creep in. Check each sheet against this list when you set it and again at the mid-year review. It takes a few minutes per role and saves a year of measuring the wrong things.

• Tasks listed as KRAs, so the sheet reads like a job description
• KRAs nobody can measure, such as 'good attitude'
• Equal weights for everything, which says nothing about priorities
• The same sheet copied across different roles
• KRAs that stay unchanged after the role changes
• Employees seeing their KRAs for the first time at appraisal

Step by step

1. Start from the role's purpose. Write one sentence on why the role exists. Every KRA should connect to that sentence; anything that does not probably belongs elsewhere.
2. Read the department's goals for the year. Check what the department has committed to this year, such as a new branch or lower costs, and make sure the role's KRAs support it.
3. Draft four to six outcome areas. Name each area as a result, not an activity: payroll accuracy rather than preparing payroll. Merge overlapping areas.
4. Weight them to 100. Give each KRA between 10 and 40 based on time spent and business impact. Discuss the weights with the employee, since they show what matters most.
5. Pair each KRA with one or two KPIs. For every KRA, write how it will be measured, the data source and a target, so the year-end review rests on numbers rather than impressions.
6. Agree them with the employee. Walk through the KRAs, weights and targets in a meeting and adjust anything unrealistic. Agreement at the start prevents arguments at the end.
7. Record them in the review cycle. In ZeniaHR, add each KRA as a goal of type KRA, with its weight, in the employee's review cycle, so the goals and weights are on record for the whole year.
8. Review when the role changes. Revisit KRAs at mid-year and whenever the person's role, team or targets change significantly, and record the new version.

Frequently asked questions