Yorkshire Water believes the balance scorecard approach to performance
management, which it launched nine months ago, will cut HR costs by 10 per
cent.
Mike Smith, head of HR at Yorkshire Water, developed a programme to
introduce a scorecard system soon after he joined the company in May last year.
He told delegates at the IQPC conference on the balanced scorecard last week
that he favoured the system because change can be measured through targets and
monitoring.
He said the first step was for the company to determine the direction in
which it should head.
"We asked: ‘What do our customers want? What do the team need to
deliver this, and what can HR do to achieve it?’" he said.
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Phase one of the programme, conducted from June to August last year, saw HR
staff quizzed about what their department should be delivering within three
years and how it could be achieved. Smith said the resulting strategy would reduce
HR costs by 10 per cent.
Phase two (September to November), introduced the management system, to
encourage innovation, and a project plan was developed. And phase three, from
December saw the start of priority projects, and the launch of the management
system.
