What is benchmarking?
A common practice in both the private and public sectors is the technique of benchmarking. In simple terms it means comparing your organisation’s performance across several areas to that achieved by your peers in the same business or process. In other words, data collected for a given sector provides a series of indices against which an organisation can measure and compare.
How is this appropriate to Village and Community Halls?
Village and community halls do not exist in isolation. Whether they realise it or not, people running our halls are part of a much wider network across, not only the whole county, but the whole country. Trustees have much knowledge to share with, and much they can learn from, their counterparts in other halls. Benchmarking is a way of facilitating the sharing of knowledge and improving interaction between village and community halls in Dorset.
What benchmarks might we use?
Benchmarking in the village hall context is probably going to be based mainly on financial indicators. This will be true at the outset of any scheme at least. The indicators used can be any that the ‘benchmarking’ community decide they want to include but examples are:
· What percentage of running costs is covered by hall hiring revenue
· What dependency do halls have on external revenues (ie income other than from hiring)?
· What percentage of total outgoings goes on major items (insurance, wages, power, etc)?
Below these general indicators there may be some more specific ones:
· What does a hall charge per hour?
· What unit cost is paid for electricity or fuel?
· What is the current rate of pay for cleaners?
What use are these benchmarking indicators?
The most obvious example is, of course, that you may be able to reduce your operating costs. For example, if you can see that your hall is paying more for insurance than other halls then may be its time to shop around again for quotes. There may be valid reasons of course why you have to pay more (thatched roof for example) but it is always worth researching if yours seems out of synch with the norm.
The second advantage, and related to the first really, is that it may give indications as to where favourable market terms can be had. For example, if a couple of halls are spending less per unit on electricity than others and they are both with the same supplier then others may like to make enquiries with that supplier to see if their rates can be cut.
Building on this, the third advantage might be that armed with the knowledge and the combined purchasing power of several halls, group schemes might be negotiable.
Next, there is the comfort that derives from knowing that you perform well against the standards as measured across a profile of many of your counterparts. It may also help with questions at management committee meetings and annual general meetings.
There are other smaller benefits but the last one I will mention here is that it can build dialogue and unity amongst the hall management community. It can be a tough job running a hall in these difficult financial times and getting together and helping each other by sharing information can only benefit everyone.
Where are we at with a ‘Benchmark’ scheme in Dorset?
So far it is an idea only but an idea that has been tested by being presented to representatives of sixteen halls at our last ‘BiteSize’ event in July. The halls present at that event almost totally agreed that such a scheme would be very beneficial and wanted to see it progressed further.
So what is next then?
To take the idea forward and create a workable scheme we need at least five hall treasurers who are prepared to get together to form a steering group. Initially this will include probably two meetings to set out the basic framework and define the indicators to be used. After that, may be two meetings a year to monitor progress and to continue to develop the scheme.
If your hall would like to participate (and better still, if your treasurer would like to help with the steering committee) then I would like to hear from you as soon as possible.
Peter Orchard
Village and Community Halls Adviser for Dorset
August 2010