What is bench marking ?

Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry best practices or similar organizations. It is a way for companies to identify areas for improvement, set goals, and measure progress towards those goals. Benchmarking can be done internally within a company or externally with competitors or industry leaders.

Benchmarking is a continuous process of measuring products, services, and practices against the best in the industry in order to gain information that will help organizations improve their performance. By comparing oneself to others, businesses may identify areas where they can enhance their operations and achieve a competitive edge. Benchmarking is a systematic approach for evaluating and comparing business processes and performance metrics with the intention of improving one's own performance.

Here are the key steps involved in benchmarking:

1. Identify the processes or areas to be benchmarked. This could be anything from customer service to product development.
2. Identify the best-in-class organizations. These are the organizations that are leaders in the industry and have the best practices in place.
3. Collect data on the performance of the best-in-class organizations. This data can be collected through surveys, interviews, or by observing the organizations' operations firsthand.
4. Compare your own performance to the best-in-class organizations. This will help you identify areas where you can improve.
5. Develop and implement plans to improve your performance. These plans should be based on the data you collected in step 4.

Benchmarking can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. It can help organizations improve their performance, reduce costs, and gain a competitive advantage.