The Tool

As the old management adage goes, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. To manage the improvement of behaviors, you have to be able to measure them, quantify them, and trend them over time. To accomplish this, we have developed a tool called APEX™. APEX measures the underlying behaviors that support the characteristics of each element of the Performance Culture™. The approach is to observe the practices, tools, and behaviors versus the defined framework and then collaboratively score each element.
The scoring criteria are defined as follows:

0: No objective evidence of existence or awareness of behavior or tool

1: Behavior is rarely exhibited, tool is only in the planning stage

2: Behavior is inconsistent, tool developed but seldom used

3: Behavior is understood but still needs practice, tool is in use but improvement is needed

4: Behavior is understood and often exhibited, tool is now in use and is understood

5: Behavior is understood and exhibited throughout the organization, tool is in use constantly and consistently

6: Behavior is now a part of culture and belief system, tool is a way of life

The measurement of behavioral effectiveness can be applied in several layers of increasing detail. At the highest level, the scores can reflect the behaviors supporting the 12 elements of the Performance Culture. As granularity increases, the scores reflect the behaviors supporting any functional (Production, Supply Chain, Asset Healthcare, Engineering, etc.) aspect of the organization. APEX has the capability to measure the behavior at the functional role level (i.e., Operator, Maintenance Planner, Buyer, Operations Manager, Engineering Director, etc.) of the organization to determine sources of variability. The application of the tool can be used to establish baseline levels of performance, trend behavioral improvements over time, compare performance amongst assets in the portfolio, and summarize the progress of the organization towards a Performance Culture.
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