Know the four terms before you write anything

These words are often mixed up, which is why many KRA exercises end up as unread files. Keep the meanings simple.

  • Role: the purpose of the position and where it sits, including who it reports to.
  • Responsibilities: the recurring tasks and decisions the person handles.
  • KRA (key result area): the three to five areas where the role must deliver results.
  • KPI (key performance indicator): the number or observable measure that tracks each KRA.

Start from the work, not from a template

Downloaded job descriptions describe a generic role, not yours. Instead, list the main flows in your business, such as enquiry to order, order to delivery, delivery to payment, and hiring to onboarding. Then mark who actually does each step today and where handovers go wrong.

For example, in a small fabrication unit the list might show that quotations are made by the owner, material planning by a supervisor and invoicing by the accountant, but nobody owns order status. That gap tells you to create an order coordination responsibility, not to add another manager.

Write KRAs that a person can influence

A KRA should describe an outcome the role can reasonably control. A sales executive can influence conversions of qualified leads; they cannot control the factory's delivery schedule. If a result depends heavily on another team, either share the KRA openly or move it.

Keep to three to five KRAs per role. More than that and nobody remembers them. For a store manager, for instance, the KRAs might be stock accuracy, customer service quality, team attendance and cash handling.

Choose KPIs you can actually measure

A KPI is useful only if the data exists and someone reviews it. Before finalising, ask where the number will come from and how often it can be collected. If the answer is that someone will have to compile it manually every week, start with a simpler measure.

For example, for a store manager's stock accuracy KRA, the KPI could be the number of mismatches found in a weekly spot count of a fixed set of items. For a collections executive, it could be the share of invoices cleared within the agreed credit period, calculated from your own records.

Mix quantity and quality, and avoid KPIs that reward the wrong behaviour. A target of calls made may produce many short, useless calls.

Be careful with targets that look precise but are easy to game. If a support executive is measured only on tickets closed, tickets may be closed quickly and reopened later. Pair it with a quality check, such as a sample of closed tickets reviewed by the team lead each week.

Put it into a rhythm

Agree the role sheet with each person in a short conversation, not by email alone. Then review KPIs in a regular one-to-one, monthly for most roles, and revisit KRAs once or twice a year or when the business changes.

Link the sheet to hiring, onboarding and appraisals. When the same document is used in all three, people take it seriously.

Roles tell people what they are here for, responsibilities describe the work, KRAs name the results that matter and KPIs show progress. Start with your real workflows, keep each role to a handful of KRAs and choose measures you can collect without extra effort. If you want help building a role and KRA framework across your teams, our HR consulting work covers exactly this kind of organisation design.