What is Benchmarking?

Overview

Benchmarking in Assessment Manager allows facilities and organisations to compare maturity ratings and performance against themselves, other facilities within their organisation and the wider aquatic industry.

While assessments help you understand your current level of maturity, benchmarking provides context. It helps answer important questions such as:

• How does our facility compare to other facilities within our organisation?

• Are there areas where we are performing particularly well?

• Which areas require additional attention or investment?

• How do we compare against the broader aquatic industry?

Benchmarking transforms assessment information into meaningful insights that can support decision-making, continuous improvement and strategic planning.

Assessment Manager provides three benchmarking dashboards:

• Facility Benchmark Dashboard – Compare one facility against another within your organisation.

• Organisation Benchmark Dashboard – View the average maturity of all facilities across your organisation.

• Industry Benchmark Dashboard – Compare your facility against the average maturity of all facilities using Assessment Manager.

Together, these dashboards provide a comprehensive picture of performance and help facilities identify opportunities to learn, improve and share good practice.

Why is Benchmarking Important?

Benchmarking helps facilities move beyond simply completing assessments and begin understanding what the results actually mean.

A maturity rating in isolation provides limited information. For example, an overall maturity rating of 65% may appear strong, but benchmarking may show that other facilities within your organisation or the industry are achieving significantly higher outcomes in the same area.

By comparing performance, facilities can:

• Identify strengths and areas requiring attention.

• Learn from high-performing facilities.

• Prioritise resources and improvement activities.

• Set realistic and achievable goals.

• Monitor progress over time.

• Demonstrate continuous improvement.

Benchmarking helps ensure that improvement activities are driven by evidence and meaningful insights rather than assumptions.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Complete and Maintain Your Assessments

Benchmarking relies on the maturity ratings within your assessments. Before using the benchmarking dashboards, ensure that your assessments have been reviewed and updated and that the maturity ratings accurately reflect your facility's current systems and practices.

The more current your assessments are, the more meaningful your benchmarking results will be.

Step 2: Select the Appropriate Benchmark Dashboard

Assessment Manager provides three benchmarking dashboards, each designed to answer different questions.

The Facility Benchmark Dashboard is useful when comparing facilities within your organisation. The Organisation Benchmark Dashboard helps identify organisation-wide trends and priorities, while the Industry Benchmark Dashboard provides context by comparing your facility against the broader industry.

Step 3: Review Your Benchmarking Results

Review the maturity ratings and comparisons available within the selected dashboard. Look for areas where your facility is performing strongly and areas where there may be opportunities to improve.

Benchmarking should be used to identify trends and opportunities rather than simply determining whether one facility is performing better than another.

Step 4: Identify Opportunities for Improvement

Pay particular attention to modules or questions that are performing below organisational or industry averages.

These areas often represent the greatest opportunities for improvement and may help guide future planning, resource allocation and improvement activities.

Step 5: Share and Learn from Good Practice

Benchmarking is also an opportunity to identify areas of excellence.

Facilities performing strongly in particular areas may have systems, processes or practices that can be shared and adopted by other facilities across the organisation.

Step 6: Monitor Progress Over Time

Benchmarking should be reviewed regularly as assessments and maturity ratings evolve.

Monitoring changes over time helps facilities understand whether improvement activities are having the desired impact and whether progress is being made towards organisational goals.

Tips and Best Practice

Benchmarking should be viewed as a learning tool rather than a competition. The objective is not to achieve the highest rating, but to understand current performance and identify practical opportunities for improvement.

The most valuable benchmarking discussions often occur when facilities share ideas, learn from one another and work collaboratively to improve outcomes across the organisation.

Regularly reviewing benchmarking information will help ensure that improvement activities remain focused on the areas of greatest need and that successes are recognised and shared.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an assessment and benchmarking?

Assessments measure the maturity of your facility's systems and practices. Benchmarking compares those maturity ratings against other facilities, your organisation or the broader industry.

How many benchmarking dashboards are available?

Assessment Manager provides three benchmarking dashboards: Facility, Organisation and Industry.

Is industry benchmarking anonymous?

Yes. Industry benchmarking is based on anonymous data from all facilities currently using Assessment Manager.

Do I need to complete my assessments before using benchmarking?

Yes. Benchmarking relies on assessment maturity ratings, so keeping your assessments current will ensure that the insights provided are meaningful and accurate.

How often should I review benchmarking information?

Benchmarking should be reviewed regularly and particularly after significant improvements have been implemented or before undertaking planning and improvement activities.