Scorecards consist of financial and nonfinancial measures that reflect the strategic goals of an organization. Balanced scorecards feature a compliment of leading and lagging performance metrics that drive results. As specialist in the design and implementation of performance scorecards and scorecard incentives, we can attest that implementing scorecards will lead to improved results, especially when aligned with incentives.

     Implementing a scorecard system to improve performance involves discrete steps. Most organizations conduct traditional strategic and business planning. However, many do not take the next step of linking their strategy to specific performance measures that define “success”. In the traditional balanced scorecard format initially defined by Kaplan and Norton, strategy and metrics are organized around four perspectives: financial, customer, operational and learning and growth (now more commonly called resources, including human, physical and technological).  A properly developed and utilized scorecard becomes a focusing tool for the organization around which performance improvement efforts can be launched.

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