STAGE 2 - Balanced Scorecard for Skills

BACKGROUND (Cont'd)

In fact, Norton and Kaplan hypothesized a specific chain of causal effects between the various components of the Balanced Scorecard (Figure 3). They saw learning and innovation capacity of the organization as the foundation for organizational performance. For this reason, it is especially important that human resource professionals understand their role in laying the foundation for the successful implementation of the Balanced Scorecard.

Figure 3: The Causal Chain

Learning & Innovation		Internal Business Processes		Customer Satisfaction		Financial Results
Employees are the basis for innovation		Skilled employees question existing processes. How can we do it better?		Improved processes, improved products and services for customers.		Happy customers are loyal customers, the basis for long-term financial success.

Specific metrics will vary from organization to organization depending on their unique vision and strategies. Indeed, one of the main challenges is to identify the few metrics that are genuinely critical to achieving the organization's vision. This is necessarily a collaborative effort, as expertise on various aspects of the business resides throughout the organization.