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Dealing with Difficult People

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Scorecards Raise the Color Bar

Outcomes, Nov/Dec 2007, Vol. 31, No. 6

You'll have to pardon Mark Jorritsma if his face turns red:he feels passionate about scorecards. However, a little more than a year ago, the red was on his group's scorecards.Jorritsma, World Vision's vice president of finance administration and strategy for International Program Group can now breathe easier.

It used to be that if one of the grant project financial reports had an error, the respective senior financial officer in charge never felt any repercussions. There was no accountability in place.

All that started to change five years ago when World Vision became one of the first Christian ministries to use scorecards.

"With the institution of scorecards, each financial officer had a metric indicating the percentage of grant financial summaries (SF269s) that were submitted on time and correct. Of course there was a lot of initial grumbling from our people, but our staff rose to the challenge, did the work, and the improvement was dramatic," says Jorritsma. "The first time through, our teams hit 80%- 90%. We're now in our third quarter of reporting and all of our grant teams have hit 100%.

"The scorecards also had a metric to evaluate reduction in audit risk. Jorritsma set the bar just high enough to ensure quick, initial success. A senior financial officer might have a portfolio of ten countries—two in the red zone (serious issues that need to be addressed), three yellow (controls and procedures need tightening), and five green (maintain good status). The goal was to maintain all levels and move at least one country one level higher by the end of the fiscal year. Since we implemented scorecards, almost every single portfolio has moved up at least one or two notches, some even more.

"The implementation of scorecards has, in my mind, been the most fundamental change in efficiency and accountability in our ministry culture. Like someone once said, 'You inspect what you expect.' What metrics belong on your scorecard? Well, when you wake up at 2 a.m. in a cold sweat worrying about something at work, that's what belongs on your scorecard. Effective scorecards measure results, not activities. Who cares if we distribute 100 metric tons of food? If the recipients of that food are still dying from lack of nutrition, we've failed.

"Scorecards are a way of ensuring transparency," says Jorritsma. "They help staff stay focused on high value-add activities. They give you a very concrete way to operationalize your strategic plan. They're more than a tool; they're really a strategic management system."