Fink

The Workforce Scorecard:

Managing Human Capital to Execute Strategy

By: Mark A. Huselid, Brian E. Becker and Richard W. Beatty

Reviewer: Laurence S. Fink,
The University of Toledo

Thomas Fried- Organization: How Balanced Scorecard of the impact on strategy imple-
man’s best selling Companies Thrive in the New Business mentation, often lead managers to
2005 book, The Environment, and then its application make incorrect or counter-produc-
World Is Flat sug- to the human resource function in, tive decisions;
gests that a host The HR Scorecard, Huselid, Becker,
of trends (orga- and Beatty, apply these concepts and 5) Workforce scorecards should
nizational, social, techniques to workforce measure- include leading and lagging indica-
global, economic, ment and management. tors, and should be limited to a
technological, few of the most important metrics
social, and politi- The book’s central premises are: that best measure the impact
cal) have made it easier for companies 1) Workforce success depends on of workforce characteristics on
to compete around the globe against generating a workforce with the strategy implementation, and are
each other. With increased access to culture, mindset, competencies, ones that everyone understands
such things as technology, capital, and leadership and workforce why they are important and how
raw materials, information about behaviors needed to implement they can be used to guide manage-
competitor business practices, and strategy; rial decision making and monitor
distribution channels, it is getting progress;
harder for organizations to differenti-
2) The culture, mindset, competen-
ate themselves from their competi-
cies, and leadership and workforce
tors. This new, ultra-competitive, 6) HR scorecards should focus on
behaviors needed will vary by the
rapidly changing business environ- their impact on the creation of
different key workforce perfor-
ment requires organizations to find needed workforce characteristics;
mance drivers that a particular
new ways to differentiate their value
segment of the organizational
proposition to customers to achieve
workforce is assigned to influence; 7) Workforce and HR scorecards
strategic competitive advantage.
Many organizations are now realizing should be based on the unique
that their intangible people assets 3) Organizations need much greater workforce characteristics, perfor-
may provide one of the last sources differentiation, where most effort mance drivers, and strategy drivers
of strategic competitive advantage. and resources are spent on the jobs connected to that company’s
However, these same organizations that are most central to strategy unique strategy for value creation
often have no idea how to “harness” execution and on the employees and differentiation to customers as
the value of their people to improve who should receive greater devel- opposed to standardized bench-
strategy implementation, positively opmental efforts and significantly marks;
affect the bottom-line, or make a greater financial rewards and
unique value contribution. resources; 8) The most important ROI mea-
Building on the Balanced Score- sures focus on the relationship
card model first introduced by 4) Workforce and human resource between workforce characteristics
Kaplan and Norton in their 2000 metrics, which focus on operation- that lead to workforce success and
book entitled, The Strategy-Focused al efficiency or expense, instead effective strategy implementation;

Mid-American Journal of Business

Vol 21, No. 2 71
Fink

9) A focus on “superior” and competitiveness of his/her organi-

“marginal” employees should zation. It is likely to cause many 2007 OSRA Conference
eventually free human resource organizations to question or change San Diego, CA
professionals and managers from the way they manage and measure March 13-17, 2007
wasting time on problem employ- their workforce’s activities. In addi-
ees, allowing them to focus more tion, the book is packed with sample
on strategic implementation metrics, case studies and business ex-
issues; and, amples, figures, checklists, guidelines
10) CEOs, senior executive leader- for implementation and diagnostic
ship team, line managers and instruments that substantially aid the
HR professionals all have critical reader in understanding the author’s
roles in strategy implementation ideas and put implementation of the
and workforce measurement. ideas expressed within the reach of
most professionals.
This book fills two important gaps The topics deserving more
in the strategic human resource/stra- coverage is an explanation of their Information
tegic management literature. First, generalized approach or schemas for
it provides a clear framework and narrowing the long list of potential Technology,
approach for how to turn strategy
into successful strategy execution by
metrics that could be used to mea-
sure workforce success or isolate the
Learning, and
measuring and managing key aspects most important drivers of strategy Performance Journal
of the workforce. The workforce is and the workforce performance driv-
described by these authors as, “the ers of these strategic drivers. The www.osra.org
most important and most underper- only other minor weakness of the
forming asset in most businesses.” book is that a few of their suggestions A biannual publication (included
Workforce management is consid- (most were very practical) concerning with membership) presenting ref-
ered the “most important” of all resource allocation, would be difficult ereed research articles in the field
the strategic levers for improved to follow when recruiting people for of organizational and end-user
organizational performance by them positions (they eschew the traditional information systems. The “Making a
because it is perceived as having the approaches of job evaluation to price Difference” section explores policies,
greatest potential for improvement jobs) making their suggestions for de- methods, and best practices relevant
and to produce strategic competi- veloping a systematic compensation to technology professionals, educa-
tive advantage – one that is hard to system quite challenging. Hopefully, tors, and trainers.
copy or imitate. Second, it provides a this will be a topic of further discus-
clearer “path” for understanding how sion from these authors. MAJB OSRA: The Organization
human resource activities and prac- The Organizational Systems
tices affect the bottom-line through References Research Association brings together
their impact on workforce success Becker, B.E., M.A. Huselid, and D. professionals from the business and
and resulting successful strategy Ulrich. 2001. The HR scorecard: academic worlds with a focus on
execution. Linking people, strategy and perfor- information technologies and their
Overall, The Workforce Scorecard is mance. Boston: Harvard Business impact on learning and performance.
a very useful book, which offers many School. OSRA is small enough to know
unique insights and is likely to pro- Friedman, T.L. 2005. The world is flat: colleagues but big enough to attract
vide valuable information to CEOs, A brief history of the twenty-first distinguished papers and speakers.
senior managers, and human resource century. New York: Farrar, Straus,
managers. It provides interesting
ideas on how to best manage a work-
and Giroux. Article Submission:
Kaplan, R.S. and D.P. Norton. 2000. Submit 5 copies of your manscript to:
force in these competitive times. The strategy-focused organization:
Its unique perspective, clear and Dr. Robert Brookshire
How balanced scorecard companies University of South Carolina
logical conceptual framework, and thrive in the new business environ-
strategies discussed for developing, 112 D Carolina Coliseum
ment. Boston: Harvard Business Columbia SC 29208
implementing, and using workforce School Press.
metrics provide valuable tools to the
practitioner looking to improve the

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Vol 21, No. 2