Management Posts

Development:

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was originally developed by Robert Kaplan of Harvard University and Dr. David Northon as a framework for measuring organizational performance using the more " BALANCED " set of performance measures.

Traditionally companies used only short-term financial performance as a measure of success but now non-financial strategic measures are also added in order to focus on long-term success.

The BSC system evolved over the years and is now considered a fully integrated "Strategic Management System".

What is a Balanced Scorecard (BSC)?

• A Balanced Scorecard is a performance metric used to identify, improve, and control a business's various internal processes and resulting outcomes.
• Balance Scorecard is a framework to implement and manage strategies.
• The Balanced scorecard is derived from the idea of looking at strategic measures to get a more balanced view of performance. The concept of a Balanced Scorecard evolved beyond the simple use of perspectives, every business can implement it according to the requirements and therefore it is a holistic system for managing strategy.

Why do we need to implement it?

• The key benefit of using a BSC framework is that it gives way to the organization to "Connect the Dots" between various components of strategic planning and management and it means there will be a visible connection between Projects and Programs that people are working on it.
• BSC framework also helps management to meet pre-decided targets.

Perspectives of Balanced Scorecard:

Indeed a balanced scorecard plays a significant role to aid management to keep updated internal processes and the external Business world as well.

The framework Balanced Scorecard is divided into four areas (perspectives) that are critical to business success as given below.

1. Financial
2. Internal process
3. Learning and Growth
4. Customer

The BSC suggests that we view the Organization from four Perspectives to develop Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives (relative to each of these points of view).

To know more details about all four perspectives, read my upcoming weekly Blogs.

• Observation 
• Survey 
• Periodic Interview
• Attitude Measurement  
• Opinion Analysis
• Morale Indicators
  • Productivity
  • Absenteeism
  • Turnover
  • No. of accident
• Use suggestion Box 

After doing all the right things to boost productivity and still employees' productivity plunging or not increasing, we need to look at the Employee Morale. Employee Morale is a decisive factor in an Organisation whether it is the Service sector or Manufacturing unit. It is one of the cornerstones of the business, only a few organizations pay attention to morale among employees in their organization and this is the major mistake from their side as it affects productivity which ultimately reflects in Organizational Growth & Productivity.

Let’s Discuss:

• What’s Employee Morale?
• Characteristics of Employee Morale.
• Relation between Morale & Productivity.

What is Employee Morale?

In simple terms employee morale is the standard of behavior of an employee which directly affects the productivity of the organization but it is a complex concept as there are ample factors that affect employee morale.

Definition:

Edwin Flippo: “ Morale is a mental condition or attitude of individual and groups which determines their willingness to cooperate”

Characteristics:

• Psychological concept
• Dynamic Nature
• Group phenomenon
• Reflect others

Psychological Concept:

Morale is a psychological phenomenon, it is the internal feeling of confidence, attitude, Zest, enthusiasm, satisfaction, etc. Moreover, it is the state of mind and emotions affecting the attitude and willingness to work that affect individual and organizational objectives.

Dynamic Nature:

Morale is Dynamic in nature; we cannot develop it overnight. Management has to make continuous efforts to build and maintain high morale among employees in the organization. It is a long-term concept.

Group Phenomenon:

Morale is not an individual phenomenon but it's the sum of the total employee’s attitude, feelings, and sentiments.

Reflect others:

We cannot measure morale directly but it is reflected in productivity, discipline, turnover, etc. To measure morale we need to look at other factors.

Relations between Morale and Productivity:

Davis Designed that there is not always a positive link between Productivity and Employee morale. There can be four combinations of Morale and Productivity

1. High morale-High productivity

This situation is likely to occur when the employees are fully motivated to achieve high performance not only this but satisfied with all financial & nonfinancial rewards & highly satisfied with their job role. Feeling proud to be part of the organization/team.

2. High morale-low productivity

This situation occurs when the employees waste their time in the workplace or use the time to satisfy their personal goals. They don't care about organizational goals. There are many factors responsible for this kind of Employee Attitude in the workplace such as

1. Lack of proper training,
2. Lack of support by co-workers or leaders,
3. Leaders/Superior behavior with him,
4. Irresponsible Management (If we talk about It or another small service sector Irresponsible HR )
5. Ineffective Supervision
6. Restrictive norms of the informal group
7. Outdated Technology & Methods

3.Low morale-High productivity

In a short period, it may be possible that with low morale Employee's productivity seems high but it is for a temporary or short span of time. Low Morale can not result in high productivity for a long time. this situation occurs when

1. Fear of losing a job,
2. Less availability of alternatives
3. Strict Supervision, Rules & Regulations
4. Punishment
5. Policies and strategies focus on high productivity only.

4. Low morale-Low productivity

This situation occurs when the organizational & individual goals are not satisfied & other factors like

1. Lack of motivation
2. Unclear Job role
3. Lack of harmonious Superior-Subordinate relationship

These all factors result in frustration, tension and grievances develop against managers which reflect low productivity. To pen down, morale is the paramount factor that gives a direct impact on productivity, Productivity impact on profitability, profitability impact on organizational growth. If the Morale is high then it will be possible to gain more fruits in the future but if it's low then it's Red Signal for any organization even the productivity is high but it will be for a short period of time only

I am not going to end the topic of Morale but will continue in the next blog with

1. Factor determining morale
2. Significance of high morale
3. Impact of low morale
4. Measurement of morale

To know about these please read my upcoming blogs of Human Resource…..

• Freedom to communicate.
• It signifies the transparency of the environment in the organization.

• It helps to improve the implementation of any system & bring innovation by free interaction among team members, clarity in setting objects, and common Goals.

• Facing problems and challenges.
• The person is facing it boldly and not shying.

• Improve Problem Solving.
• Clarity in work.
• Group discussion to resolve particular problems.

• Maintaining confidentiality.
• Building trust in each other.
• Do not share anything to others or outside of the organization.

• Higher Empathy.
• Timely Support.
• Reduce Stress.

• No or narrowest gap between said value & Actual behaviour.
• Person’s commitment to work/Assigned tasks & Actual performance should be the same.
• Everyone has attitude “Jo me bolta hu wo me karta hu”

• Develop mutuality culture.
• Sharing of feeling freely.
• Improve interpersonal communication.
• Reduce the distortion in Communication.

• Taking Initiative.
• Pre- Planning.
• It prepared everyone for upcoming challenges.

• Reduce uncertainty.
• One step ahead (advance team)
• Prepare everyone to accept changes with time.

• Freedom to plan & act at one’s own level.
• Organisation must avoid an Autocratic type of environment and give chance to all members to use their power in a positive way.

• Develop mutual relationship.
• Feeling of Pride.
• Self Motivation
• work satisfaction.

• Involves working together for common cause.
• individuales share their concerns and prepare strategies for working out plans, actions & implementing them together.

• Timely work.
• Resource sharing.
• Improve Communication.

• Trying out new ways to deal with problems/Tasks.
• Organisation should allow all to experiment new ways and encourage them to find the best ways.

• Accurate problem solutions.
• Development of new products.
• Development of New methods.