A Key Responsibility Area or KRA is the detailed summary of what the employee is supposed to work on. They are absolutely necessary and must do to fulfill the responsibilities of achieving the company’s targets. It is a comprehensive description of what employees should do, how they should do it, and how the company will measure these goals. It gives employees a clearer picture of their roles and responsibilities and gives them a sense of direction while working. KRAs are followed by the job description and explain the list of goals and expected desired results from those goals. These goals are specific to employees’ position in the organization. The purpose of KRA is to provide the employees with a clear understanding of their job.
What do You Mean by KRA?
Key Responsibility Area (KRA) defines the role of an employee. It describes the key roles and responsibilities associated with a job profile. It is well-defined and easy to measure. It helps an employee focus on their job roles and perform better. Since the roles and responsibilities of an employee are defined, it helps employees align their goals to the organization’s goals. This process helps in the productivity of the company. It also helps the management keep track of the performance of the employees. Thus, KRA is critical for the company’s success.
How to define Proper KRAs?
A Proper KRA or a well-defined KRA is a structure that explicitly describes the role of any job profile of an employee. Here are a few steps to help one write a well-defined KRA.
- The first step is identifying the organization’s KPI (Key Performance Indicator), an important area for employee contribution. However, all KPIs do not apply to every employee.
- Description of relevant responsibilities of employees according to their job role is another important aspect. The same job role may have different work responsibilities. Therefore, it is essential to document all of them.
- Categorization of achievement expectation from an employee is divided into two parts:
- Measurable – Achievements measured in numbers like the number of hires, number of training conducted, increase in revenue, etc.
- Immeasurable- Achievements that cannot be measured like brand value, productivity, etc.
- The organization’s goal should be stated articulately. It should have a measurable target and a realistic time frame.
- Discussion of goals with the employees and their acceptance of the same is also necessary.
- The achievements and goals should be reviewed quarterly, and when the organizational goals change, the employee goals should also be changed.
Examples of KRA for some job profiles
KRA focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the employees and the team. KRA for every job profile is different. For example, KRA for an HR manager can be employee satisfaction; a content writer should produce well-written and acknowledged content; KRA for a sales manager can be the total number of sales in a quarter, etc.
Sales Manager
A sales manager is responsible for guiding and leading a team of salespeople in an organization. They set goals, build a plan, analyze data, assign tasks for other sales representatives. The KRAs for sales managers incorporates the following data:
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- Increasing net revenue from the previous period
- Increasing sales contacts per salesperson
- Increasing ratio of online sales to other sales.
- To increase sales from an earlier period.
Product Manager
A product manager is responsible for product planning and product marketing. They must ensure that the product and its services meet the needs of the customers. Their key role is to check whether the product supports the company’s overall strategy and goals. The KRAs for a Product Manager are:
- Increasing revenue from the product as compared to the previous period.
- To attract new customers for the product
- Ensuring customer stability, i.e., the present customers buy and use the product.
- Ensuring customer satisfaction, i.e., the customers are satisfied with the product.
Project Manager
A Project Manager is responsible for planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing a project. They are in charge of project scope, estimating budget, and the success or failure of the project. The KRAs for a Project Manager are:
- Complete the project within the estimated budget.
- Completing the project on time
- Improve forecasting on costs for components of the project.
HR Manager
A Human Resource Manager is responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing the administrative functions of an organization. They establish a link between the organization and employer, oversee the hiring and recruiting process, check administrative work, review the company’s policies, regulate employees’ benefits, etc. The KRA for an HR Manager are:
- Attracting qualified candidates for job vacancies.
- Recruiting efficient candidates
- The increasing rate of acceptance of job offers.
- Decreasing HR costs per new hire
- Decreasing employee turnover.
IT Manager
An IT Manager is responsible for fulfilling the organization’s information systems requirements. All the computer-related activities, including coordinating and planning, are handled by an IT Manager. The primary duty is to manage the organization’s network and infrastructure, ensure the security of the company’s computer systems and electronic data, communicate with other departments for any queries, and monitor the company’s network systems daily. The KRAs of an IT Manager is:
- Increasing efficiency in addressing and fixing the user problems
- Increasing employee satisfaction with the use of technology operations.
- Ensuring the network system is always operational.
Finance Manager
A Financial Manager is responsible for overseeing the finances of the company. These include financial planning, investing, and financing for the company. They are accountable for producing financial reports, developing strategies, planning long-term financial goals, and building a profit projection. A financial manager must have in-depth knowledge of the competitive job market. The KRAs associated with the Finance Manager are:
- Increasing the revenue of the company since the last period
- Increasing the profitability of the company since the previous period.
- Increasing cash flow
- Improving operational efficiencies within the company.
The Importance of KRAs
Key result areas are critical for the success of the company. These areas of business require best performance from the employees to obtain the desired result. If KRA is set for a particular employee, it means that employee has the entire responsibility of completing the task based on which their performance shall be measured. It helps employees to have a clearer picture on targets that need to be achieved. KRA for an employee is aligned with the team that is further aligned with the organizational goals. For example:
KRA for a team leader will be :
- Managing everyday tasks
- Aligning the work to the deadline
- Motivating and guiding the team to achieve the company’s goals
- Conducting training sessions when necessary
- Checking on the professional needs of the employees
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)
Organizations that clearly define roles and responsibilities can simplify their hiring processes. It can empower their people to do better and be more focused at work. It also helps boost operational efficiency by reducing confusion and redundancies.
Responsibility is important in the workplace because it shows your professionalism, can advance your career, helps build professional bonds with coworkers, and shows company leadership that you are a valuable employee.
People work together better when they understand their roles. There’s less jockeying for position, fewer arguments, and higher overall creativity when everyone understands their responsibility as part of the group.
