Balance Your Scorecard
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Use a diagnostic tool to gauge if your metrics align with the four pillars of the Balanced Scorecard.
- Describe how the diagnostic tool can be used to analyze specific dashboards.
How Balanced Are Your Dashboards?
We see that NJ Transit developed a scorecard and dashboard to help drive organizational improvements and success. What’s on your organization’s scorecards? Are they balanced?
In this unit, we use a tool to help you think about the interconnectedness of your organization, and help identify potential gaps across the four pillars of organizational performance. Using the tool, we examine several dashboards:
- Organization Dashboard—This is the dashboard used by your top executives (for example, your CEO or COO) to gauge the performance of the organization as a whole. Different organizations refer to this dashboard using different names. If it doesn’t exist, or if you do not have access to it, then skip it for now.
- Sales Executive Dashboard—This dashboard is used by the VP of Sales (or equivalent) to gauge the performance of the Sales team and the contribution they are making to the organization.
- Marketing Executive Dashboard—This dashboard is used by the VP of Marketing (or equivalent) to gauge the performance of the Marketing team and the contribution they are making to the organization.
- Service Executive Dashboard—This dashboard is used by the VP of Service (or equivalent) to gauge the performance of the Service team and the contribution they are making to the organization.
Let’s start by examining how an admin might answer the questions for their organization, and take follow up steps for improvement.
At the end of this unit, you have access to the tool so that you can do the same for your organization.
DIY Assess Your Dashboard for Balance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Assess Your Dashboards for Metrics and Opportunities | If good metrics exist on the dashboard, mark it with an | X = Exists on Dashboard OFI = Opportunity for Improvement | ||
Organization Dashboard | Sales Executive Dashboard | Marketing Executive Dashboard | Service Executive Dashboard | |
Pillar 1: Customer Perception Metrics | ||||
Customer Satisfaction | X | OFI | X | |
Net Promoter Score (NPS) | OFI | X | X | OFI |
Customer Retention | X | OFI | ||
Market Share | OFI | |||
Customer Loyalty | X | |||
Social Media | X | OFI | ||
Pillar 2: Operations and Internal Efficiency Metrics | ||||
Sales | X | |||
Marketing | X | |||
Customer Service | X | |||
Product / Service Department and / or Production | ||||
Other Critical to your Business (e.g., Logistics Metrics, etc.) | X | |||
Pillar 3: Organizational Capacity, Knowledge, and Innovation Metrics | ||||
Training of Workforce in Skills / Education | OFI | OFI | OFI | X |
Workforce Engagement | X | OFI | OFI | OFI |
New Ideas and Innovations Generated Internally | OFI | |||
Social Contributions Made by Employees | OFI | |||
Pillar 4: Financial Performance Metrics | ||||
Key Overall Financial Metrics | X | X | ||
Department Contribution to Financial Performance | X | X | OFI | |
2. Rate Your Dashboards Overall Balance
| Balanced | Partially Balanced | Partially Balanced | Partially Balanced |
3. Next Steps to Help the Organization Work with report and dashboard users to examine adding balanced metrics, and addressing opportunities for improvement. | ||||
Figure 6. Example dashboard assessment for balanced performance metrics
As you can see from the example in Figure 6, the dashboards are relatively balanced, with metrics in at least three pillars. However, a number of gaps and opportunities for improvement (OFIs) are apparent. These represent areas to make a contribution to the organization.
Take a few minutes to use the tools to assess the dashboards and reports for your organization. If you find opportunities for improvement, consider it chance to have a conversation with your manager about your findings, and the potential for improving the dashboards.
Summary
The next unit provides more specific advice on what you can do as an admin, regardless of the type of organization you are in, to use Salesforce as a positive force for tracking performance across the organization.