Our customer support and operations teams are consistently hitting their scorecard targets for ticket resolution time, but we are seeing customer satisfaction plummet. How do we stop our people from gaming these operational numbers just to keep their metrics green?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a metric is turned into a target, people will always find a way to optimize for the target at the expense of the actual outcome. This is Goodharts Law in action. If your ticket resolution time is green but customer satisfaction is tanking, your team is likely rushing customers off the phone or closing issues prematurely just to satisfy the clock.

To fix this, you must introduce a balancing metric on your weekly scorecard. Never track speed without tracking quality in the same seat. For every volume or efficiency metric, pair it with an outcome metric. If you track ticket resolution speed, you must also track first-contact resolution rate or a weekly customer satisfaction score for completed tickets.

Additionally, look at the Accountability Chart. Ensure the seat owner understands that they are not just responsible for hitting a superficial number, but for the overall health of that function. If they are gaming the numbers, it is a GWC issue. They either do not get the impact of their actions, do not want to hold themselves truly accountable, or lack the capacity to hit the speed target without cutting corners. Bring this issue to your next Level 10 Meeting and use IDS to solve the root cause, which is often a poorly designed metric rather than a bad employee.