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Balanced Scorecard
Organizational Effectiveness
Organizational effectiveness provides a measure of how successful the Court is progressing towards achieving its mission and fulfilling its vision to best serve the public, while seeking the highest possible understanding, trust and confidence.
This concept of organizational effectiveness, however, is much too broad and abstract to be measured directly. In addition to this, each of the Court’s 6 divisions - Administrative Services, Adult Probation Services, Judicial Information and Technology Services, Judicial Operations, Juvenile Probation and Detention Services, and Psychological Services - supports the mission of the Court in a manner specific to their respective scope of operations and area of expertise, which makes a single measure of effectiveness impossible to determine.
The objective of the SMAART Performance Management Program is to improve the Court organization’s capacity to monitor, manage, and enhance its services, programs and support activities. The SMAART Performance Management Program provides the tools and language in order to define success consistently throughout the Court organization.
Proxy Measures
Instead of measuring organizational effectiveness directly, the Court organization has selected a number of proxy measures and intended outcomes that represent effectiveness:
Organizational effectiveness provides a measure of how successful the Court is progressing towards achieving its mission and fulfilling its vision to best serve the public, while seeking the highest possible understanding, trust and confidence.
This concept of organizational effectiveness, however, is much too broad and abstract to be measured directly. In addition to this, each of the Court’s 6 divisions - Administrative Services, Adult Probation Services, Judicial Information and Technology Services, Judicial Operations, Juvenile Probation and Detention Services, and Psychological Services - supports the mission of the Court in a manner specific to their respective scope of operations and area of expertise, which makes a single measure of effectiveness impossible to determine.
The objective of the SMAART Performance Management Program is to improve the Court organization’s capacity to monitor, manage, and enhance its services, programs and support activities. The SMAART Performance Management Program provides the tools and language in order to define success consistently throughout the Court organization.
Proxy Measures
Instead of measuring organizational effectiveness directly, the Court organization has selected a number of proxy measures and intended outcomes that represent effectiveness:
- Project Management (e.g., access to services, program outcomes, case processing, client satisfaction, public awareness)
- Financial Management (e.g., reducing client costs, reducing organizational costs, achieving projected budget, securing grant funding, client financial compliance)
- Internal Process and Controls (e.g., efficiency of service delivery, collaboration with justice partners, compliance with policies and procedures, adherence to ethical and professional standards, communications)
- Organizational Development and Innovation (e.g., job knowledge and skills development, utilization of technology, organizational commitment, problem-solving, responsiveness)
Benefits of the Scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard is a performance management tool for measuring whether the smaller scale operational activities of the Court organization are aligned with its larger scale strategies, objectives, and overall mission in terms of project management, financial management, internal processes, and organizational development. Focusing not only on financial outcomes as the single measure of organizational effectiveness, but also by considering other impacts associated with these activities, the Balanced Scorecard helps to provide a more comprehensive view of the Court organization and its functions, which in turn helps Court staff, justice stakeholders, and the public better understand the role of the Court organization within the community. Coupled with the SMAART performance parameters, the Balanced Scorecard provides a template that thoroughly describes activities within the Court organization and a reasonable means with which to measure Court organizational effectiveness.
Performance is the sum of behavior and results, and is an outcome of effective management and continuous improvement processes. Performance Management is about creating a workplace environment and culture that translates into individual, unit, division, and organization-wide success. The SMAART Performance Management Program is just as much a process of measuring how well the Court organization does in terms of serving customer needs, meeting targets, and producing desired impacts as it is a system for creating an organizational culture of collaboration and commitment, with an emphasis on active learning, inclusion, and building internal motivation for success. Setting organizational performance targets can make a positive contribution to Court performance by focusing organizational attention on particular outcomes and outputs, and aligning the behavior of employees with the overall mission of the Court.
Developing habit-strength for effective problem-solving and efficient work processes can be applied across similar or different divisions or work groups in order to transform strategic initiatives into concrete actions, to guide organizational behavior during times of uncertainty and change, and seamlessly adapt to targets of opportunity. Motivational factors present within the Court organization and culture ensure that performance is for the right objectives, done the right way, and for the right reasons.
Transparency Measures
The SMAART Balanced Scorecard results are intentionally transparent and regularly reported within the organization and to external stakeholders through:
The Balanced Scorecard is a performance management tool for measuring whether the smaller scale operational activities of the Court organization are aligned with its larger scale strategies, objectives, and overall mission in terms of project management, financial management, internal processes, and organizational development. Focusing not only on financial outcomes as the single measure of organizational effectiveness, but also by considering other impacts associated with these activities, the Balanced Scorecard helps to provide a more comprehensive view of the Court organization and its functions, which in turn helps Court staff, justice stakeholders, and the public better understand the role of the Court organization within the community. Coupled with the SMAART performance parameters, the Balanced Scorecard provides a template that thoroughly describes activities within the Court organization and a reasonable means with which to measure Court organizational effectiveness.
Performance is the sum of behavior and results, and is an outcome of effective management and continuous improvement processes. Performance Management is about creating a workplace environment and culture that translates into individual, unit, division, and organization-wide success. The SMAART Performance Management Program is just as much a process of measuring how well the Court organization does in terms of serving customer needs, meeting targets, and producing desired impacts as it is a system for creating an organizational culture of collaboration and commitment, with an emphasis on active learning, inclusion, and building internal motivation for success. Setting organizational performance targets can make a positive contribution to Court performance by focusing organizational attention on particular outcomes and outputs, and aligning the behavior of employees with the overall mission of the Court.
Developing habit-strength for effective problem-solving and efficient work processes can be applied across similar or different divisions or work groups in order to transform strategic initiatives into concrete actions, to guide organizational behavior during times of uncertainty and change, and seamlessly adapt to targets of opportunity. Motivational factors present within the Court organization and culture ensure that performance is for the right objectives, done the right way, and for the right reasons.
Transparency Measures
The SMAART Balanced Scorecard results are intentionally transparent and regularly reported within the organization and to external stakeholders through:
- Executive Level Measures
- Key Performance Indicators
- Program Snapshots
- Program Evaluations
- Documented Action Plans
- Improved Management Practices
- Updated Policies and Procedures