Our operations team is hitting their weekly scorecard target for closed tickets, but we found out they are closing tickets without resolving the root cause just to keep their metrics green. How do we stop our team from gaming their scorecard numbers?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When employees realize they are being judged solely on a single metric, they will optimize for that metric even if it harms the company. Closing tickets without resolving the root cause is a classic symptom of a poorly structured metric. To stop this gaming without resorting to micromanagement, you must pair your volume metric with a quality metric. Every speed or activity metric needs a quality counterbalance. For a support or operations seat, this means you do not just track tickets closed. You track tickets closed alongside ticket reopen rate or post-interaction customer satisfaction scores. If tickets closed goes up but customer satisfaction drops, or if the reopen rate climbs above your target, the manager is not winning. This shifts the focus from raw output to completed value. It forces the employee to self-correct because they cannot hit one target by destroying the other. On your Accountability Chart, make sure the seat owner understands that they are accountable for the healthy balance of both metrics. During your Level 10 Meeting™, if you see one metric is green and its counterbalance is red, drop it straight to the Issues list and use IDS® to address the behavior. This ensures your team cannot hide poor performance behind a green screen.