Performance management for solar and energy companies

Construction KRAs by role

On a project, individual targets should roll up to the schedule everyone is working to. Tie each role's KRAs to the part of the plan that person controls, and measure them from the site's own daily progress reports and quality records.

• Project manager: commissioning on the planned date and within budget
• Site in-charge: weekly installation against plan, safety record and manpower cost
• Electrical site engineer: cabling and termination progress, quality observations closed
• Electricians and fitters: work passing quality checks the first time, rework avoided
• HSE officer: toolbox talks held, permits audited, near misses reported and closed
• Store keeper: stock accuracy and no stoppage for missing material

O&M measures and a worked example

For a plant, availability is the headline number. In a 30-day month there are 720 hours. If the plant's inverters were out of service for a total of 18 hours after faults, availability is (720 minus 18) / 720 = 702 / 720 = 97.5 percent. O&M technicians are also measured on how fast they respond to a fault alarm, whether the module cleaning cycle ran to schedule and the generation lost to downtime they could have prevented. A technician who closes faults quickly but lets the cleaning schedule slip costs the plant just as much generation.

Review cycles that match the work

Use an ad hoc cycle when a project phase or the whole project closes, so the site team is reviewed on what it actually delivered while the details are fresh. Site in-charges and engineers moving between projects suit a quarterly cycle as well, and O&M technicians a monthly one. In ZeniaHR each goal carries a type, such as KRA or KPI, and a weight: a site in-charge might carry milestones at 40, safety at 30, quality at 20 and manpower cost at 10. The cycle summary then groups the cycle's reviews by status, so HR can see which sites are behind.

Recognition far from head office

Site crews rarely see senior management. When a block is finished before the monsoon or a site crosses a safe man-hours milestone, say so where everyone can see it: a Company Wall post to the site, praise with badges such as Above and beyond or Team player, and a mention on the monthly leaderboard. It costs nothing and people talk about it in the camp for weeks.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Create an ad hoc cycle for each project close-out, a quarterly cycle for site in-charges and engineers, and a monthly cycle for O&M technicians.
2. Add weighted goals per person typed as KRA or KPI, such as milestones, safety, quality and plant availability.
3. Use the cycle summary to make sure every review on a closing project is finished before the team disperses.
4. Open a probation cycle for each batch of new joiners, alongside the site in-charge's 1 to 5 probation rating.
5. Recognise crews through praise badges and Company Wall posts addressed to their site.

Read more about performance in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions