What is a RAG status on a KPI?

RAG (Red, Amber, Green) is a traffic-light health indicator that compares a KPI's actual value to its target using threshold bands. Green means on track, Amber means at risk, and Red means off track and requiring escalation.

What are typical RAG thresholds for strategic KPIs?

A defensible default is Green ≥ 95% of target, Amber 80–94%, Red < 80%, applied to the period-to-date value with polarity awareness (higher-is-better vs lower-is-better). Financial and safety KPIs typically use tighter bands (Green ≥ 98%).

How often should RAG status be refreshed?

Operational KPIs refresh weekly, strategic KPIs monthly, and board-level KPIs quarterly. The SMO/VRO owns the refresh cadence and locks the period once management review has signed off.

Governance guide

KPI RAG Status Definitions: Red, Amber, Green Thresholds

RAG status is the single most-used signal in a Strategy Management Office. Done well, it compresses hundreds of KPIs into a defensible escalation queue. Done casually, it becomes a colour-picking exercise that the executive committee stops trusting. This guide sets out the thresholds, polarity rules, and cadence StratexHub uses with GCC ministries and diversified groups.

1. The scoring model

Every KPI carries a target, an actual, and a polarity (higher-is-better, lower-is-better, or on-target). Achievement % is computed with polarity awareness so a "reduce time-to-permit" KPI is not penalised for beating target.

Higher-is-better: achievement = actual ÷ target
Lower-is-better: achievement = target ÷ actual
On-target (band): achievement = 1 − |actual − target| ÷ tolerance

2. Default thresholds

Band	Standard KPI	Financial / safety KPI	Meaning
🟢 Green	≥ 95%	≥ 98%	On track — no action
🟡 Amber	80 – 94%	90 – 97%	At risk — owner action plan
🔴 Red	< 80%	< 90%	Off track — escalate to SMO/VRO

Tighten Amber/Red for KPIs tied to regulatory commitments, Vision 2030 pledges, or safety. Loosen them for early-stage transformation KPIs where volatility is expected in year one.

3. Period-to-date, not point-in-time

Compute achievement against the period-to-date target, not the annual target. A KPI at 40% of annual target in Q2 is Green if the Q2 milestone was 38%. Point-in-time scoring is the most common cause of "false red" dashboards.

4. Cadence and lock

Operational KPIs — weekly refresh, no lock.
Strategic KPIs — monthly refresh, locked after SMO review.
Board KPIs — quarterly refresh, locked after audit sign-off.

5. Escalation rules

Amber: owner submits a written recovery plan within 5 working days.
Red 1 period: SMO reviews root cause; corrective action logged as a Change Request.
Red 2 consecutive periods: escalated to executive committee with a rebaseline decision.
Red on regulatory / Vision commitment: immediate escalation, no grace period.

6. Governance anti-patterns to avoid

Manual colour picking — kills board trust.
One universal threshold across all KPI types — hides risk in financial KPIs.
Refreshing status without locking the period — enables retroactive "greening".
No polarity flag — lower-is-better KPIs mis-score.

Automate it in StratexHub

StratexHub computes RAG automatically from target, actual and polarity, locks the period after SMO sign-off, and routes Red KPIs to the governance workflow with an auditable trail. See the KPI module or the strategy management platform overview.