Economic Downturn Creating a Greater Need to Strategically Manage Human Resources
Strategic Planning Professional and Author Offers Tips for Successful Performance Management
Reno, NV (PRWEB) April 7, 2008 -- Business strategy advisor Erica Olsen says that the current economic slowdown has increased the demand for a performance management system that delivers results with fewer human resources, and she says those challenges can best be met by applying the Balanced Scorecard approach. The veteran strategic planning facilitator and author says, "The answer lies in using the Balanced Scorecard principles and diligently applying them as part of business strategy." To meet the growing demand for this integration of performance management and strategy, Olsen developed MyStrategicPlan, an online strategic planning system and business tool that recently won the 2008 Best Application Service Provider Interactive Application award in the Web Marketing Association's annual Internet Advertising Competition. This web-base software is based on the Balanced Scorecard framework and ties many business operations and processes together without a huge enterprise system or cost which is critical given the current economic situation.
According to a recent MarketingSherpa special report, 50% of B-to-C respondents reported seeing lower number of total and new customers per month and the cost of acquisition increasing. This week alone has seen the demise of two airlines - Aloha and ATA - and various reasons cited included soaring fuel costs and a slump in air travel with the slowing economy. "Expenses are growing even while revenue is shrinking" says Olsen.
Olsen acknowledges that many organizations struggle with performance management because their existing system consists of little more than a form managers use to conduct annual employee evaluations. She says this doesn't work because performance management needs to be an ongoing conversation between supervisors and employees that supports the accomplishment of strategic objectives. Rather than only considering the process once a year, she advises managers to have a system in place that sets clear objectives, evaluate results and delivers continual feedback to employees about their performance on a regular basis.
She adds, "A company's performance management system is not just about annual reviews and bonuses. It is also essential to implementing corporate strategy. An organization's strategic plan must give high priority to its performance management system because employees are the ones actually implementing the tactics necessary to achieve corporate objectives."
Fortunately, executives can rely on the performance management software of MyStrategicPlan to guide them in crafting a balanced corporate strategy as well as managing performance management on a regular basis. Because it is based on the Balanced Scorecard, MyStrategicPlan enables any organization, regardless of size and budget, to build their comprehensive plan in a matter of weeks (or even days) and monitor implementation all year long.
The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic planning and reporting methodology created by Drs. Kaplan and Norton at Harvard University that takes a company's objectives and splits them between 4 equally important perspectives: Financial, Customer, Operational, People. Organizational objectives then cascade down those four perspectives, and give the company a clear path of implementation. When company objectives cascade down throughout the four key areas, a strategy is considered "balanced." The Scorecard portion consists of leading and lagging metrics on which the company or even departments and individuals can be evaluated to determine whether they are on track. By forcing executives to put as much thought into performance management as the financial objectives of the organization and tying performance management goals all the way up to the mission and vision of the company, this strategy map solves the performance management dilemma.
Erica Olsen is an owner of M3 Planning, Inc, a nationwide leader in on-demand strategic planning tools and services, and she was named Entrepreneur of the Year by The Business Report of Northern Nevada. Through M3 Planning's online client base and onsite strategic planning facilitation work, Erica has developed and reviewed hundreds of strategic plans for organizations across the country. She has also authored several strategic planning books including Strategic Planning for Dummies. To schedule an interview or request book copies, please contact Matthew Kennard at (775) 747-7407
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