Balanced Scorecard: Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies, 2nd Edition

9

Creating Alignment by Cascading the Balanced Scorecard

Roadmap for Chapter 9 There is a great story about former President Lyndon B. Johnson touring Cape Canaveral during the space race to the moon. During his visit, the President came across a man mopping the floor, and asked him, “What’s your position here?” The gentleman looked up from his pail and proudly replied, “I’m helping to send a man to the moon, Mr. President.” Such is the power of alignment—when every person, regardless of role or rank, possesses a clear line of sight between their job and the organization’s loftiest goals.

You may not be sending a man to the moon, but whatever you’re working towards requires the total commitment and alignment of all your people. This chapter will discuss how the Balanced Scorecard framework can be used to drive organizational alignment from top to bottom through the process of cascading. We’ll explore what the concept is all about and why it’s critical to both employees and the organization, and examine techniques you can use to develop aligned Scorecards at your agency.

WHAT IS CASCADING?

In a recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive, of 23,000 U.S. residents employed full time, only 37% said they had a clear understanding of what their organization was trying to achieve and why. The same study discovered that only 9% believed their work teams had clear, measurable goals.¹ Another report performed by consulting firm Watson Wyatt obtained similar results, with 49% of employees ...