BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

HRD Balance Score Card

Assessing your organisation

by

Dr IH Meyer Tel. (021) 918 4122

e-mail : ihmeyer@sun.ac.za

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Balance Scorecard is to assess your organisation’s performance in the area of Human Resource Development.

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Introduction

The idea of balance scorecards is not new. Nor is the idea of assessing HRD in organisations new. Systematic assessment tools for

human resource development is hard to find and those that are found are too technical, mathematical and leaves many HRD managers

statistically cold and shocked. This led me to develop an easy-do-it-yourself type of an assessment instrument. The instrument consists

of three parts :

Part 1 : Assessment instrument

Part 2 : The results

Part 3 : The explanation

The idea behind this HRD Balance Scorecard is to conduct an in-house HRD assessment. The assessment will assist in determining the

appropriateness of your organisations HRD interventions as we enter the 21st Century.

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

The balance scorecard instrument covers the following broad areas:

Scorecard

Strategic approach towards HRD

Investment in People

Organisational learning

Individual learning and performance

Organisational Performance

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

HRD BALANCE SCRORECARD

ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

HRD BALANCE SCORE CARD

YES

NO

Mark in this Box

1. Does your organisation have a HRD/HRM Director?

1

2. Does your organisation have a HRD/HRM Plan on paper?

2

3. Does your organisation have a clearly defined budget for human resource development?

3

4. Does your organisation have a clearly defined HRD mission (or vision) statement?

4

5. Is your CEO or Chairperson or President of your organisation personally enthusiastic about the development of your staff?

5

6. Does your organisation offer any financial assistance to employees towards staff development?

6

7. Does your organisation spend annually more than 1% of its personnel expenditure (salaries and wages) on training and development?

7

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

YES

NO

8. Does your organisation have an EAP (employee assistance programme)?

8

9. Does your organisation offer sabbaticals for senior executives and managers as part of reflection learning?

9

10. Does your executive managers take part in the actual transfer of skills (through training, presentations, seminars and mentoring.)?

10

11. Does every staff member in your organisation have an individual staff development plan?

11

12. Does your organisation have a training code of ethics?

12

13. Does your organisation have a structured mentoring programme?

13

14. Does your organisation employ people of diverse backgrounds?

14

15. Does your organisation link training to organisational performance?

15

16. Does your organisation regular assesses its performance as part of organisational learning?

16

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

YES

NO

17. Does your organisation have individual and or group rewards and incentives for its employees?

17

18. Would your describe your organisation as one which is interested in investment in people?

18

19. Does each employee in your organisation get at least 40 hours (minimum) of training per annum?

19

20. Does your organisation take part in cross-cultural learning?

20

Note This HRD: Balance Scorecard was developed by Dr Ivan Meyer as a tool to assist organisations in assessing their organisational performance with regard to human resource development. It is a tool and not a blue print and users of this HRD Balance Scorecard should take local context into consideration when utilizing this Toolkit in assessing its HRD scorecard.

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

ASSESSMENT RESULT

HRD BALANCE SCORECARD

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

RESULTS

Score Level Description

0 – 5

Low

No organisational structure or systems for HRD. This is a sign of serious problems. The CEO has no interest in people or their needs. People will have no loyalty to the organisation and perform according to minimum standards.

06 – 10

Average

This is an organisation showing signs of a little interest in staff development. The focus is not on people but on organisational survival. Staff development is a second thought and happens only after tough words.

11 – 15

Performing

This organisation understands the value of HRD. Structures and systems are in place. It invests in its people and understands the long-term benefits of HRD. The CEO or chairperson is committed to HRD.

16 – 20

High Performing Organisation

This is an organisation that has put the basics of HRD in place and is now reaping the benefits of investing in people. Staff is loyal to the organisation and a shared value culture exists in the organistion. The well being of the organisation is the well being of the people. People received rewards for their high performance.

HRD : BALANCE SCORE CARD

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

HRD SCORECARD

THE EXPLANATIONS

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

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Question 1: Single point responsibility

Rationale : If your organisation does not have a HRD/HRM staff member at least at Director level, then this constitutes that there is no

organisational commitment towards human resource development. Have a single person responsible for HRM/HRD is a first step

towards demonstrating organisational commitment.

Question 2 : HRD Strategic Plan Rationale : Having a HRD / HRM at Director level is a great first step, but without a coherent strategic HRM/HRD plan little will be

achieved. A HRM/HRD plan should indicate what the strategic objectives, goals and action plans are with respect to staff development

and organisational performance.

Question 3 : HRD Budgeting

Rationale : Organisational commitment towards human resource development is best expressed in monetary (budgetary) terms. A

verbal commitment to HRD is of little value if it is not translated in the budget under a clear item HRD / Training/ Skills development.

This will ensure that programmes and projects for staff development can be initiated, because it is budgeted for. HRD cannot be

dependent on savings or surpluses from other budget items or votes.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 4 : HRD Statement

Rationale : Having a clearly defined vision or mission statement sets the scene or context for staff development. This statement is also

a communiqué form the employers to the employees that it takes staff development serious and that the employer can be held

accountable.

Question 5 : Top Management commitment

Rationale : It helps alot to have a CEO or chairperson who is personally enthusiastic or even involved in training and development.

This behaviour signals the right signs to the managers and other executives that everybody in the organisation should take HRD very

seriously. This behaviour will also assist in creating a learning organisation and a culture of organisational learning.

Question 6 : Investment in staff development

Rationale : Offering financial assistance to employees to further their studies is a sign that your organisation is interested in the

advancement of its employees. Many countries also offer tax incentives, that in order to promote investment in people. Any investment

in training and development yield greater benefits over a period of time.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 7 : Budgeting for training and development

Rationale : Spending at least 1% of your staff expenditure (payroll) is a good benchmark of your organisational commitment to staff

development.

Question 8 : Employee assistance programmes

Rationale : In the world we are now living, there is a greater need to integrate personal, work and family lives. The classical

distinction between personal, work and family lifestyles are no longer a viable option in the new global (international) world order.

People are having more stress, more conflict and all this lead to greater health and organisational problems. Organisational pathologists

agree that organisational stress is on the increase and that this has a dramatic effect on the health of employees in the workplace. For

this and other reasons, organisations of the 21st Century should have an EAP (Employee Assistance Programme). Employees are human

beings and live in a societal context, and the purpose of an EAP is to accommodate the employee as a human being with social, physical,

emotional, spiritual and mental needs.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 9 : Sabbaticals

Rationale : Sabbaticals is a common practice at institutions of higher learning (universities, technikons and colleges). The idea behind

sabbaticals is to take executives out of the work environment and provide them with paid leave for a period of up to 3 to 6 months. This

is time for reflection and to take a good break from the high stress level environment and to recharge, read, learn, reflect and collect

new fresh ideas for the organisation. In the absence of sabbaticals one easily develops a habit of recycling old habits, behaviourism, and

ideas. Institutions of higher learning have proved very successfully that university professors returning from sabbatical bring new fresh

ideas to these institutions. Sabbaticals also breed new leaders while executives are on leave. This is also a good tool for succession

planning.

Question 10 : Transfer of skills

Rationale : Organisational culture, history, values and traditions are powerful tools for providing continuity and organisational memory.

Employing managers and long time executives is a useful strategy for achieving this objective. As managers do this, they also suddenly

learn as the best learning comes through teaching others. By employing your managers as trainers one also develops a culture of

sharing organisational history, culture and traditions. The outcome of this strategy is team building.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 11 : Individual staff development plan (ISDP)

Rationale : Having an individual staff development plan, places the responsibility for development also fair and square on the

individual. This is the room for the employee to pace his/her own development within the organisation. Individual development does

not only refer to salary increases, but also to developmental opportunities, (skills, financial assests, job enlargement, job enrichment,

leave for study, mentoring, etc.). The focus must not be limited to direct personal financial benefits but to broaden personal growth and

development.

Question 12 : Training Code of Ethics

Rationale : Having a training code of ethics is vital to ensure that training is not a nice outing or a day out of the office and having fun.

Training and development is serious business and having a training and development code of ethics should define the value framework

for training and development.

BALANCE SCORECARD

DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 13 : Mentoring

Rationale : Mentoring is not a new thing. It became popular in the earlier 1990’s as a way of developing talent in organisation.

Mentoring is a positive approach towards identifying employees with management potential and put them through a thorough learning

process of seeing, observing, asking, shadowing, thinking, reflecting and discussing while on this programme. Exposing would-be

managers to the real life of managers is a great investment in an employee’s career.

Question 14 : Employing people of diverse backgrounds

Rationale : Employing people of diverse backgrounds help to create a micro cosmos of society. The 21st Century Organisation is one,

which employs people of all nationalities, cultures and traditions. Organisations are enriched by different cultures and also demonstrate

a commitment to transformation, human dignity and diversity.

Question 15 : Return on investment (ROI)

Rationale : Surely training and development to improve organisational performance is a sign of a strategic approach to both

organisational development and human resource development. Organisations cannot invest in training and development without any

return on its investment. The greatest investment is an increase in organisational performance.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 16 : Assessing organisational performance

Rationale : Assessing your performance regularly as part of organisational learning helps in creating a learning culture instead of a

blaming culture. In a learning culture, people ask what went wrong, how can we prevent it and what did we learn in retrospect and not

who did what wrong.

Question 17 : Performance rewards and incentives

Rationale : Having individual and group rewards (performance bonuses/rewards) stimulate employees for high performance. It is only

human to expect a reward or a word of thanks and appreciation when one / group has done an outstanding job.

Question 18 : Mainstreaming employee development

Rationale : If your organisation is interested in investing in people you will see it at three levels, the mission statement, the budget and

its implemention plan. Investing in people is not merely the job the HRD department, but the responsibility of every employee in the

organisation.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

Question 19 : Time for training and development

Rationale : Spending at least 40 hours (minimum) on each employee in an organisation is part of allocating time for training and

development. This is an acknowledgement that training and development is part of the business of the organisation and setting time

aside for training is time well spend. This time should be reflected on the individual staff development plan.

Question 20 : Cross-cultural learning

Rationale : Taking part in cross cultural learning, prepares your workforce to deal with people from different cultures, backgrounds and

traditions. Cross cultural learning and diversity management training boil down to showing respect for people of different backgrounds.

It is about being polite, honest, friendly and respectful towards people in general. Organisational violence can be prevented by investing

in diversity management training.

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

HRD BALANCE SCRORECARD

CHECKLIST

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

1. Single point responsibility

11. Individual staff development plan (ISDP)

2. HRD Strategic Plan

12. Training code of Ethics

3. HRD Bugeting

13. Mentoring

4. HRD Statement

14. Employing people of diverse backgrounds

5. Top Management commitment

15. Return on investment (ROI)

6. Investment in staff development

16. Assessing organisational performance

7. Budgeting for training and development

17. Performance rewards and incentives

8. Employee assistance programmes

18. Mainstreaming employee development

9. Sabbaticals

19. Time for training and development

10. Transfer of Skills

20. Cross-cultural learning

CHECKLIST

(Please tick √)

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DR IH MEYER School of Public Management and Planning

TEL. (021) 918 4122

CONCLUSION The idea behind this scorecard are two fold, firstly to assess you organisational performance in the area of HRD, and secondly to suggest

areas for action by way of a checklist. The scorecard and the checklist is a call for back to the basics of HRD. The checklist is a critical

HR management tool to position your organisation for the 21st century knowledge economy. I encourage you to use this tool to change

your HRD landscape for good.

This HRD Balance Scorecard will assist your organisation to:

- Develop a strategic approach towards HRD.

- Investing in People.

- Learn as an organisation.

- Perform as an organisation.

- Assess individual learning and performance.