Fix markdown errors and introduce kpi shortcode

## 10 years

- [Vision](/company/vision/){:data-ga-name="vision"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

- [Product vision](/direction/#vision){:data-ga-name="product vision"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

- [Vision](/company/vision/)

- [Product vision](/direction/#vision)

- [Commitment of DZ](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2021/11/10/a-special-farewell-from-gitlab-dmitriy-zaporozhets/)

- Time needed for category creation

## 3 years

1. [Strategy](/company/strategy/){:data-ga-name="strategy"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [3-year product direction strategy](/direction/#3-year-strategy){:data-ga-name="3 year strategy"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Strategy](/company/strategy/)

1. [3-year product direction strategy](/direction/#3-year-strategy)

1. [Long range outlook](/handbook/finance/financial-planning-and-analysis/#long-range-outlook-lro)

1. [Restricted stock unit vesting](/handbook/stock-options/#vesting){:data-ga-name="vesting"}{:data-ga-location="body"} after cliff of six months is passed

1. Average retention of team members is around 3 years, with reduced [turnover](/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#team-member-turnover){:data-ga-name="turnover"}{:data-ga-location="body"} (<16%). See [actual reports](/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#reporting){:data-ga-name="reports"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Restricted stock unit vesting](/handbook/stock-options/#vesting) after cliff of six months is passed

1. Average retention of team members is around 3 years, with reduced [turnover](/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#team-member-turnover) (<16%). See [actual reports](/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#reporting)

## Year

1. [Yearlies](/company/yearlies/) for setting annual company goals

1. [Annual plan](/handbook/finance/financial-planning-and-analysis/#plan){:data-ga-name="annual plan"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [4 quarter rolling forecast](/handbook/finance/financial-planning-and-analysis/#quarterly-forecast-rolling-four-quarters){:data-ga-name="forecast"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. Most of [Direction](/direction/){:data-ga-name="direction"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Annual plan](/handbook/finance/financial-planning-and-analysis/#plan)

1. [4 quarter rolling forecast](/handbook/finance/financial-planning-and-analysis/#quarterly-forecast-rolling-four-quarters)

1. Most of [Direction](/direction/)

1. [Fiscal Year Product Investment Themes](/direction/#fiscal-year-product-investment-themes)

1. [Top Cross-Functional Initiatives](/company/top-cross-functional-initiatives/)

## Quarter

1. [OKRs](/company/okrs/){:data-ga-name="OKRs"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Board meeting](/handbook/board-meetings/#board-meeting-process){:data-ga-name="board meeting"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. Sales targets (in [Clari](/handbook/business-technology/tech-stack/#clari){:data-ga-name="clari"}{:data-ga-location="body"})

1. [E-group offsite](/company/offsite/){:data-ga-name="e-group offsite"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [OKRs](/company/okrs/)

1. [Board meeting](/handbook/board-meetings/#board-meeting-process)

1. Sales targets (in [Clari](/handbook/business-technology/tech-stack/#clari))

1. [E-group offsite](/company/offsite/)

1. [GitLab Assembly](/company/gitlab-all-company-meetings/)

1. [Quarterly Kickoff](/handbook/ceo/chief-of-staff-team/#quarterly-kickoff)

1. [Earnings activities](/handbook/finance/investor-relations/)

## Month

1. [Key Reviews](/handbook/key-review/){:data-ga-name="key reviews"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Release](/releases/){:data-ga-name="releases"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Retrospective](/handbook/communication/#kickoffs){:data-ga-name="retrospective"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Most KPIs](/company/kpis/){:data-ga-name="metrics"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [Key Reviews](/handbook/key-review/)

1. [Release](/releases/)

1. [Retrospective](/handbook/communication/#kickoffs)

1. [Most KPIs](/company/kpis/)

## Week

1. [1-1 cadence with reports](/handbook/leadership/1-1/){:data-ga-name="1-1 cadence"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [E-Group Weekly](/handbook/e-group-weekly/){:data-ga-name="e-group weekly"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

1. [1-1 cadence with reports](/handbook/leadership/1-1/)

1. [E-Group Weekly](/handbook/e-group-weekly/)

## Cadence Updates

title: KPIs

---

## On this page

{:.no_toc .hidden-md .hidden-lg}

- TOC

{:toc .hidden-md .hidden-lg}

## What are KPIs

Every part of GitLab has Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) linked to the company [OKRs](/company/okrs/){:data-ga-name="OKRs"}{:data-ga-location="body"}.

Every part of GitLab has Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) linked to the company [OKRs](/company/okrs/).

Avoid the term metric where we can be more explicit.

Use KPI instead.

A function's KPIs are owned by the respective member of e-group.

A function may have many performance indicators (PIs) they track and not all of them will be KPIs.

KPIs should be a subset of PIs and used to indicate the most important PIs to be surfaced to leadership.

The KPI definition should be in the most relevant part of the handbook which is organized by [function and results](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/handbook-usage/#style-guide-and-information-architecture){:data-ga-name="function and results"}{:data-ga-location="body"}.

The KPI definition should be in the most relevant part of the handbook which is organized by [function and results](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/handbook-usage/#style-guide-and-information-architecture).

In the definition, it should mention what the canonical source is for this indicator.

Where there are formulas, include those as well.

Goals related to KPIs should co-exist with the definition.

## Legend

The icons below are relevant for [Phase 1](/company/kpis/){:data-ga-name="phase 1"}{:data-ga-location="body"} and can be assigned by anyone at GitLab.

The icons below are relevant for [Phase 1](/company/kpis/) and can be assigned by anyone at GitLab.

📊 KPI is operational, public, and embedded in the GitLab Handbook next to the definition.

These KPIs are determined by a combination of their stand alone importance to the company and the amount of management focus devoted to improving the metric.

1. [Revenue](https://about.gitlab.com/company/kpis/#sales-kpis) vs. plan (lagging) **North Star KPI**

1. [R&D Overall MR Rate](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/performance-indicators/#rd-overall-mr-rate){:data-ga-name="rd mr rate"}{:data-ga-location="body"}[📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/710733/GitLab-Project-Efficiency?widget=9287585) (leading)

1. [Estimated Combined Monthly Active Users (CMAU)](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/performance-indicators/#estimated-combined-monthly-active-users){:data-ga-name="CMAU"}{:data-ga-location="body"} [📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/634200/Usage-Ping-SMAU-Dashboard?widget=9051075) (leading)

1. [Net New Business Pipeline Created ($s)](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/performance-indicators/#net-new-business-pipeline-created){:data-ga-name="pipeline created"}{:data-ga-location="body"} 🐔 (leading)

1. [Pipeline coverage start of quarter stage 3+](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/performance-indicators/#pipeline-coverage){:data-ga-name="pipeline coverage"}{:data-ga-location="body"}(leading)

1. [Percent of Ramped Reps at or Above Quota](https://internal.gitlab.com/handbook/company/performance-indicators/sales/#percent-of-ramped-reps-at-or-above-quota){:data-ga-name="ramped reps"}{:data-ga-location="body"} [📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/832223/Sales-KPI's?widget=11433770&udv=0) (lagging)

1. [Net Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn){:data-ga-name="net retention"}{:data-ga-location="body"} [🔗](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/832223/Sales-KPI's?widget=11155475&udv=0) (lagging)

1. [Gross Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn){:data-ga-name="gross retention"}{:data-ga-location="body"} [🔗](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/403244/Retention?widget=5435598&udv=1067274) (lagging)

1. [12 Month Team Member Voluntary Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/people-success-performance-indicators/#team-member-voluntary-retention-rolling-12-months){:data-ga-name="Team member voluntary retention"}{:data-ga-location="body"} [🔗](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/482006/People-KPIs?widget=9592672&udv=904340) (lagging)

1. [R&D Overall MR Rate](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/performance-indicators/#rd-overall-mr-rate)[📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/710733/GitLab-Project-Efficiency?widget=9287585) (leading)

1. [Estimated Combined Monthly Active Users (CMAU)](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/performance-indicators/#estimated-combined-monthly-active-users) [📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/634200/Usage-Ping-SMAU-Dashboard?widget=9051075) (leading)

1. [Net New Business Pipeline Created ($s)](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/performance-indicators/#net-new-business-pipeline-created) 🐔 (leading)

1. [Pipeline coverage start of quarter stage 3+](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/performance-indicators/#pipeline-coverage) (leading)

1. [Percent of Ramped Reps at or Above Quota](https://internal.gitlab.com/handbook/company/performance-indicators/sales/#percent-of-ramped-reps-at-or-above-quota) [📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/832223/Sales-KPI's?widget=11433770&udv=0) (lagging)

1. [Net Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn) [🔗](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/832223/Sales-KPI's?widget=11155475&udv=0) (lagging)

1. [Gross Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn) [🔗](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/403244/Retention?widget=5435598&udv=1067274) (lagging)

1. [12 Month Team Member Voluntary Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/people-success-performance-indicators/#team-member-voluntary-retention-rolling-12-months) [🔗](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/482006/People-KPIs?widget=9592672&udv=904340) (lagging)

1. [Unique Wider Community Contributors per Month](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/quality/performance-indicators/#unique-wider-community-contributors-per-month) [📊](https://app.periscopedata.com/app/gitlab/729542/Community-Efficiency-PIs?widget=9522755&udv=1125629) (lagging)

## CoST to the CEO KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Chief of Staff Team") %>

{{< kpi "Chief of Staff Team" >}}

## Sales KPIs

[Sales KPIs](https://internal.gitlab.com/handbook/company/performance-indicators/sales/#kpi-summary){:data-ga-name="performance indicators"}{:data-ga-location="body"} are [Not Public](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/communication/confidentiality-levels/#not-public) and documented in [the Internal handbook](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/handbook-usage/#the-internal-handbook).

[Sales KPIs](https://internal.gitlab.com/handbook/company/performance-indicators/sales/#kpi-summary) are [Not Public](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/communication/confidentiality-levels/#not-public) and documented in [the Internal handbook](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/handbook-usage/#the-internal-handbook).

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Sales") %>

{{< kpi "Sales" >}}

## Marketing KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Marketing") %>

{{< kpi "Marketing" >}}

### Developer Relations Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Developer Relations Department") %>

{{< kpi "Developer Relations Department" >}}

## People Group KPIs

### People Success KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("People Success") %>

{{< kpi "People Success" >}}

## Finance KPIs

### Finance Team KPIs - Reported in Key Review

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Finance Team") %>

{{< kpi "Finance Team" >}}

## Product KPIs

## Engineering KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Engineering Function") %>

{{< kpi "Engineering Function" >}}

### Customer Support Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Customer Support Department") %>

{{< kpi "Customer Support Department" >}}

### Development Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Development Department") %>

{{< kpi "Development Department" >}}

### Infrastructure Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Infrastructure Department") %>

{{< kpi "Infrastructure Department" >}}

### Quality Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Quality Department") %>

{{< kpi "Quality Department" >}}

### Security Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("Security Department") %>

{{< kpi "Security Department" >}}

### UX Department KPIs

<%= kpi_list_by_org("UX Department") %>

{{< kpi "UX Department" >}}

## Satisfaction

- C = unused since customer is ambiguous (can mean product or support, not all users are customers)

- E = unused since employee is used by other companies but not by us

- I = [Interviewee](/#interviewee-satisfaction-isat){:data-ga-name="interviewee"}{:data-ga-location="body"} (would you recommend applying here)

- L = [Leadership](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/eba/#leadership-sat-survey){:data-ga-name="leadership"}{:data-ga-location="body"} (as an executive with dedicated administrative support, how is your executive administrative support received)

- O = [Onboarding](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#onboarding-tsat){:data-ga-name="onboarding"}{:data-ga-location="body"} (how was your onboarding experience)

- P = [Product](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/performance-indicators/){:data-ga-name="product"}{:data-ga-location="body"} (would you recommend GitLab the product)

- S = [Support](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/support/#support-satisfaction-ssat){:data-ga-name="support"}{:data-ga-location="body"} (would you recommend our support followup)

- I = [Interviewee](/#interviewee-satisfaction-isat) (would you recommend applying here)

- L = [Leadership](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/eba/#leadership-sat-survey) (as an executive with dedicated administrative support, how is your executive administrative support received)

- O = [Onboarding](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#onboarding-tsat) (how was your onboarding experience)

- P = [Product](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/performance-indicators/) (would you recommend GitLab the product)

- S = [Support](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/support/#support-satisfaction-ssat) (would you recommend our support followup)

- T = Team-members (would you recommend working here)

## Retention

Since we track retention in a lot of ways, we should never refer to just "Retention" without indicating what kind of retention.

We track:

- [Net Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn){:data-ga-name="net retention"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

- [Gross Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn){:data-ga-name="gross retention"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

- [Net Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn)

- [Gross Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/customer-success/vision/#retention-and-reasons-for-churn)

- User Retention

- [Team Member Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#team-member-retention){:data-ga-name="team member retention"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

- [Team Member Retention](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/people-group-metrics/#team-member-retention)

## Layers of KPIs

We have KPIs at many different [layers](/company/team/structure/#layers){:data-ga-name="layers"}{:data-ga-location="body"}.

We have KPIs at many different [layers](https://about.gitlab.com/company/team/structure/#layers).

KPIs can only exist at the Company (e.g. GitLab) layer if it exists at the functional layer.

In other words, GitLab KPIs are duplicates of KPIs of the executives.

Not all departmental KPIs will be functional KPIs but all functional KPIs will be department KPIs.

This will cascade throughout the organization, as all job families will have performance indicators associated with them.

The [KPI Index](/company/kpis/#kpi-index){:data-ga-name="metrics"}{:data-ga-location="body"} captures the company, functional, and departmental KPIs since these are the three highest layers.

The [KPI Index](#kpi-index) captures the company, functional, and departmental KPIs since these are the three highest layers.

The only exception to this is where the filter on a KPI may change.

For example, the GitLab KPI may be "Hires vs Plan" but the Engineering KPI may be "Engineering Hires vs Plan".

A KPI or metric consists of multiple things:

1. Definition: What is the data source? How is it calculated? What fields are included? What caveats are considered? Why is it chosen?

    - Note: Please see [Infrastructure Hosting Cost per MAU](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/infrastructure/performance-indicators/#infrastructure-hosting-cost-per-gitlab-com-monthly-active-users){:data-ga-name="infrastructure cost"}{:data-ga-location="body"} as an example.

    - Note: Please see [Infrastructure Hosting Cost per MAU](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/infrastructure/performance-indicators/#infrastructure-hosting-cost-per-gitlab-com-monthly-active-users) as an example.

1. Target: What we strive to be above, e.g. ARR has a target

1. Cap: What we strive to be below, e.g. Turnover has a cap

1. [Job family](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/hiring/job-families/){:data-ga-name="job family"}{:data-ga-location="body"}: link to job families with this as a performance indicator

1. [Job family](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/hiring/job-families/): link to job families with this as a performance indicator

1. Plan: what we have in our yearly plan

1. Commit: the most negative it will be

1. 50/50: the median estimate, 50% chance of being lower and higher

---

title: KPIs

cascade:

  type: docs

menu:

  main:

    name: KPIs

    pre: '<i class="fa-solid fa-toolbox"></i>'

---

There are a few significant, but often overlooked, nuances of the **everyone can contribute to GitLab, the application** mantra:

- While collaboration is a core value of GitLab, over collaborating tends to involve team members unnecessarily, leading to consensus-based decision making, and ultimately slowing the pace of improvement in the GitLab application. Consider [doing it yourself](/handbook/values/#collaboration), creating a merge request, and facilitating a discussion on the solution.

- For valuable features in line with our product philosophy, that do not yet exist within the application, don't worry about UX having a world class design before shipping. While we must be good stewards of maintaining a quality product, we also believe in rapid iteration to add polish and depth after an [MVC](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/product-principles/#the-minimal-viable-change-mvc){:data-ga-name="mvc"}{:data-ga-location="body"} is created.

- For valuable features in line with our product philosophy, that do not yet exist within the application, don't worry about UX having a world class design before shipping. While we must be good stewards of maintaining a quality product, we also believe in rapid iteration to add polish and depth after an [MVC](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/product-principles/#the-minimal-viable-change-mvc) is created.

- Prefer creating merge requests ahead of issues in order to suggest a tangible change to facilitate collaboration, driving conversation to the recommended implementation.

- Contributors should feel free to create what they need in GitLab. If quality engineering requires charting features, for example, which would normally be implemented out of another team, they should feel empowered to prioritize their own time to focus on this aspect of the application.

- GitLab maintainers, developers, and Product Managers should be viewed as coaches for contributions, independent of source. While there are contributions that may not get merged as-is (such as copy/paste of EE code into the CE code base or features that aren't aligned with product philosophy), the goal is to coach contributors to contribute in ways that are cohesive to the rest of the application.

Examples of prep work include:

- [Reading the content that was selected](#content-choice)

- Executives working with their People Business Partners to prep the [Performance/Potential Matrix of their direct reports](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/talent-assessment/#the-performancepotential-matrix)

- Executives working with their People Business Partners to prep any [Director + promotion nominations](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/promotions-transfers/#bamboohr-or-greenhouse-process){:data-ga-name="director + promotion nominations"}{:data-ga-location="body"}

- Executives working with their People Business Partners to prep any [Director + promotion nominations](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/promotions-transfers/#bamboohr-or-greenhouse-process)

- Reviewing any Section Direction Materials for reviews, such as the [Growth Section's Direction](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/growth/)

- Executives propose [draft Key Results for their functions](/company/okrs/#executives-propose-okrs-for-their-functions)

- [Watch this short clip on the danger of sticky bears]({{< ref "beware-sticky-bears" >}})