STAGE 3 - Balanced Scorecard for Skills

APPLICATION - My Balanced Scorecard

Guide to Designing a Balanced Scorecard Strategy

Step 4: Follow-Up Plan

If the Balanced Scorecard for Skills can be seen as your organization's road map, you need to ensure that it does not get left and forgotten in the glove compartment. Processes must be in place for periodically reviewing actual organizational performance (based on the metrics chosen), and comparing it with the targets set out in your Balanced Scorecard. You must look at any gaps between targets and actual performance and determine what adjustments need to be made to one, the other, or both. This is the closing of the feedback loop. In this way the Balanced Scorecard becomes a living document.

Things to Remember in Step 4

• Learn from the feedback that the Balanced Scorecard provides and make adjustments as necessary.

• Look for linkages between your various Balanced Scorecard objectives (the "causal effects" mentioned earlier) and determine ways to strengthen these. In other words, how does the achievement of one Balanced Scorecard Objective contribute to the achievement of another?

Review Points

•The Balance Scorecard is not pure science and it is not a magic formula. It is merely a way of organizing your organization's strategy along four key aspects of management and measuring your organization's performance along these same lines. It requires 1) a commitment to a vision and a process, 2) precision in measurement, and 3) a commitment to follow through on the results of this measurement and to make adjustments as necessary.

•There also exists Balanced Scorecard software on the market. These tools may help you organize your thoughts and establish an action plan for your Balanced Scorecard. However, in many cases, if you understand the fundamental principles of the Balanced Scorecard approach, a simple spreadsheet program may be all you require.

• Also, there are many management consultants who specialize in the Balanced Scorecard approach to strategic planning and organizational performance management. They are available to help you design and implement a Balanced Scorecard, particularly if your organization is large or your challenges particularly complex.