Delivering training strategies: the balanced scorecard at work

Abstract

Aligning the value of training to organizational goals is an emerging need in human resource management. This study, aiming at expanding the research on training evaluation from a strategic management perspective, examines whether the use of the Balanced Scorecard approach can enable an effective delivery of training strategies, thus strengthening the link between training and organizational goals. The research was based on action research methodology. Researchers worked for about 12 months with three healthcare organizations. The research findings indicate that the balanced scorecard: (1) allows visualization of a clearly focused and internally consistent map of cause‐and‐effect relationships, turning the functional training efforts into strategic results; (2) effectively supports the training function both in managing training processes and in delivering targeted organizational outcomes; (3) offers a specific set of critical measures for evaluating the training function's performance; and (4) permits the fostering of a sound alignment between training programme objectives and functional goals. Various theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Managing multiple forms of strategic training fit through the Balanced Scorecard

“…However, as noted by Cifalinò and Baraldi () and Baraldi and Cifalinò (), these frameworks generally refer to overall HRM activities, without explicitly aligning training to the organization's strategic priorities. Thus, they provide no conclusive evidence about how to further cascade the BSC within the training function, which possibly hinders the organization's ability to define and execute its training strategy.…”

“…Thus, they provide no conclusive evidence about how to further cascade the BSC within the training function, which possibly hinders the organization's ability to define and execute its training strategy. As a result, the authors suggested ‘training scorecards’ – both at the level of single training programs (Cifalinò & Baraldi ) and at the level of the training function itself (Baraldi & Cifalinò, ) – and empirically demonstrated their practical feasibility and advantages. In their 2009 paper, the authors showed how the use of the BSC allows organizations to hone the strategy of the training program, even in terms of expected behavioral and organizational results.…”

“…The second and the third scenario emerge when an organization chooses to apply the BSC methodology directly to training management, even if the model has not been developed at the corporate level. Such scenarios, which represent an emerging frontier in training research and practice (Baraldi & Cifalinò ; Cifalinò & Baraldi ), aim to apply the BSC model at the training program level (Scenario 2) and/or at the training function level (Scenario 3) for defining, describing and executing the corresponding strategies.…”

“…doing things right ) without explicitly articulating how the training aligns with the organization's strategic priorities (i.e. doing the right things ) (Baraldi & Cifalinò ). As a result, the extant literature offers little guidance on how to explicitly leverage training initiatives and resources to improve the performance that ultimately drives business results.…”

“…The BSC represents a performance evaluation system intended to foster organizational alignment by translating the firm's strategy into a multidimensional set of financial and non‐financial measures to be cascaded throughout the organization from the corporate to the business unit and staff levels (Kaplan & Norton, , , , ). Exploratory studies have already highlighted the feasibility and advantages of applying the BSC model to training management issues (Baraldi & Cifalinò ; Cifalinò & Baraldi ).…”