STAGE 3 - Balanced Scorecard for Skills

APPLICATION - My Balanced Scorecard

Guide to Designing a Balanced Scorecard Strategy

Step 3: Initiatives for Implementation

Now comes the all-important "follow-through." Your organization has determined your vision of what you wish to become, and you have established clear objectives and targets for realizing this vision in the four Balanced Scorecard categories. Having a Balanced Scorecard strategy is one thing … IMPLEMENTATION of the strategy is a challenge in itself. There must be a clear plan on how these targets will be achieved. Specifically, who in the organization will do what, and when, to see that the targets are reached? This is the other part of "owning" the metrics. Key stakeholders in the organization not only have a say in what will be measured and how, they are also held accountable for these measures.

Workplace education programs can play an important role in this step of the process. Obviously, the Balanced Scorecard approach is fundamentally about changing the way your organization does things along four important indices. It is about adopting new perspectives and processes, and about innovation and change. Workplace education initiatives can certainly help facilitate this change by providing your employees with the knowledge and skills they need to adapt to and to lead this change process. The case study appearing earlier in this Stage is about an organization designing workplace educational plans, and the means of evaluating these efforts, to help them achieve their Balanced Scorecard objectives. The application focus of the next stage of this site is on aligning your workplace education efforts with your organizational objectives outlined in your Balanced Scorecard.

Things to Remember in Step 3

• Lines of accountability for Balanced Scorecard metrics must be clear.

• Consistency is key. The organization must ensure that it aligns its compensation plan, employee performance review system, and education and training efforts to the objectives laid out in its Balanced Scorecard. Inconsistencies can become glaring and can undermine an organization's internal credibility in pursuing its Balanced Scorecard strategy.