Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

& Benchmarking

TASN Annual Conference

Presented by: Jean Ronnei, SNS, Senior Consultant

June 18, 2018

• Understand KPI & benchmarking

• KPIs

• Internal

• External

• Learn about KPI resources

• ICN, SNA, CGCS, other

• Discover top foundational KPIs

• Deep Dive

• Meals Per Labor Hour (MPLH)

Today’s Learning Goals

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Affiliation / Disclosure

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Jean Ronnei, SNS, Senior Consultant

ProTeam Foodservice Advisors

Corporate Partners:

What Are Key Performance

Indicators (KPIs)

▪ KPIs are measures that focus on

the most critical aspects of an

organization’s performance.

▪ These measures provide a rigorous,

numbers-oriented approach to

target specific areas of emphasis,

and assess results in an objective

manner.

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Rushing, K. (2017). Essential KPIs for School Nutrition Success. Hattiesburg, MS:

Institute of Child Nutrition, Applied Research Division.

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is defined as comparing

one’s performance with a similar

operation’s or unit’s performance to

assist users in identifying best practices,

and to identify areas to focus

improvement efforts on.

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Collecting and analyzing

KPI data from a single

school or schools within a

district over time for

comparison to itself for

measuring school or

district performance.

Examples:

▪ Meals per Labor Hour (MPLH)

▪ Participation between like

schools

▪ Participation month to month,

YTD

▪ Sick time

▪ Worker’s Compensation

Internal Benchmarking

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External Benchmarking

The SNA Operations Report is compiled every other year. This report

provides some industry KPI benchmark information.

National Data from 2016 SNA Operations Report

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▪Council of the Great

City Schools(CGCS)

97 Foodservice KPIs

External Benchmarking

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▪ Food Cost Per Revenue

▪ Food Cost Per Meal Per

Revenue

▪ Breakfast Participation

(District-wide)

▪ Breakfast F/RP Participation

Rate

▪ Fund Balance as % of

Revenue

▪ Labor Costs Per Revenue

▪ Lunch F/R Participation Rate

▪ Lunch Participation Rate

(District-wide)

▪ Total Costs as % of Revenue

▪Costs Per Meal

▪Meals Per Labor Hour

▪ Inventory Turns

Top Foundational KPIs

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Saint Paul Public Schools

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Food Cost Per Meal Per Revenue

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Food Cost Per Meal

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Breakfast Participation Rate

(District-wide)

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▪ Financial success of the SN

program

▪Monitor the efficiency of

operations

▪Determines appropriate

staffing levels

▪Developing Labor budget

Deep Dive: MPLH

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How to Calculate MPLH

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MPLHs are calculated based on actual productive, paid

labor hours assigned to a site.

# of Meals or Meal Equivalents (MEQs)

÷ # of Planned Productive Labor Hours (PPLH)

Rushing, K. (2017). Essential KPIs for School Nutrition Success. Hattiesburg,

MS: Institute of Child Nutrition, Applied Research Division.

Meal Equivalents (MEQs)

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▪ MEQ is the conversion of different meal services (i.e.,

breakfast, supper, and snacks) and non-program food

sales to the equivalent of one federally reimbursable

student lunch for comparison purposes.

▪ A federally reimbursable student lunch is the standard

unit of measurement.

▪ MEQs are used in many KPIs.

Rushing, K. (2017). Essential KPIs for School Nutrition Success. Hattiesburg,

MS: Institute of Child Nutrition, Applied Research Division

Calculating Meal Equivalents (MEQs)

Why Calculate

▪ In SN programs, a federally reimbursable student lunch

is the standard unit of measurement most often used to

gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of a program.

▪ Converting data for all food sales to meal equivalents

allows the SN professional to calculate KPIs, while

effectively benchmarking financial performance, both

internally and externally.

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Meal Equivalent (MEQ) Values

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(1) Lunch or Supper (student or adult) = 1 MEQ

(1) Breakfast = 0.67

(1) Snack = 0.33

Non-program food sales ÷ Free lunch reimbursement

rate + current USDA Food value

Rushing, K. (2017). Essential KPIs for School Nutrition Success. Hattiesburg, MS: Institute

of Child Nutrition, Applied Research Division

Description

The number of MEQs served per labor

hour represents the primary measure of

productivity & production efficiency for

SN programs.

How often to calculate

Weekly, monthly, annually

How to calculate

MPLH index is calculated on the actual

productive, paid labor hours assigned to a

site-level SN program.

▪ The MPLH can be determined for a

school site by dividing the total MEQs for

a given time period by the total # of

productive paid labor hours for the

same time period.

▪ Planned Productive Labor Hours (PPLH)

include the amount of labor planned for

the site. Paid hour for subs are included,

but not paid hours for sick, personal or

holiday leave.

A look at Productivity (MPLH)

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Planned Productive Labor Hours

Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) Definition

PPLHs include the amount of labor

planned by an SN program for

managers, kitchen staff, and cashiers.

Paid hours for substitutes are included,

but not paid hours for sick, personal, or

holiday leave.

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Insert chart

PPLH Sample Calculation

Number of Meals or MEQs = 41,643

÷ Number of Paid Productive Labor Hours = 2,289

= 18.19 MPLH

PPLH or Actual MPLH

Sample Calculation

Industry Guideline for MPLH

▪ 14-18 MPLH

▪ If the MPLH for a site is inside this

range, adjustments are likely not

necessary

▪ If MPLH is 18 or above

▪ No adjustment is needed

▪ If MPLH is below 14

▪ Labor hours may need to be

adjusted

Case Study: Benchmarking MPLH

Eastern Carver County, MN

▪ Director aware that labor hours in similar

districts were lower

▪ Were ECCs high schools not as efficient?

▪ What might she learn from an on-site

observation

▪ Similar district comparison study

Enrollment, Attendance &

Variables

Enrollment, Attendance &

Participation Rates

ECC’s Chanhassen & Chaska’s participation exceeded 100% due to other meals

served and sold.

February 2017

Participation Data

ECC MPLH Study

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ECC MPLH Study

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▪Who mops kitchen

▪Who washes café tables

during meal service

▪Who washes café tables

after meal service

# Daily menu choices

# Cashier positions

# Entrees

# Lunch periods

Other Survey Data Collected

ECC MPLH Study Results

▪ Significant variance between all 8 high

schools

• 14.9 - 19.8 MPLH

• 8 to 19 regularly scheduled staff

• Daily labor hours 37.5 - 91.25

• 3 – 6 cashier positions

• Lunch entrée choices 5 - 10

MPLH – Who’s Responsible?

▪ Site Managers & Area Managers need

to know and understand expectations

▪ Plan for:

▪ Who reviews?

▪ How often?

▪ Increased meal counts may = more

Labor Hours

Tracking Data is Vital to Success

Compare data to find areas for improvement

Use your resources wisely

Use the data to instigate change and achieve results

Set internal goals

Use data to demonstrate accomplishments

Cultivate innovation and creativity

Resources & Thanks

Council of the Great City Schools: Managing for Results

https://www.cgcs.org/cms/lib/DC00001581/Centricity/Domain/4/Managing%20for%20Results%20-%202017.pdf

SNA Operations Report

http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/files/School%20Nutrition%20Operations%20Report%202014.pdf

Institute of Child Nutrition Study: Essential KPIs for School Nutrition Success

http://theicn.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20170329015554.pdf

Thanks to Eastern Carver County Schools, MN

KPI software is available using Cool School Cafe Points.

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Thank You!

Jean Ronnei, SNS

Jean@proteamadvisors.com

(844) 662-3767 x119

proteamadvisors.com