Using the Balanced Scorecard at the United States Postal Service
In response to the key issues for discussion question one; let’s first start out by defining what the USPS strategic goal areas of interest are. The “Voice of the Employee (VOE)” was one of the first strategic areas of focus deemed most important due to the past workplace violence at the post office. The VOE placed the emphasis on providing safety and security in the workplace and improving employee relations. Our stated in our text, “Researchers have repeatedly demonstrated that when service worker satisfaction is high, customer satisfaction is high, and that when job satisfaction is low, customer satisfaction is low.” (Evans & Lindsay, 2011) Utilizing the balanced scorecard approach, the USPS gauged the VOE by measuring safety based on the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Employee satisfaction was measured by employee surveys which were conducted annually but could be traced on a monthly basis by each unit. The USPS realized that it must improve employee satisfaction in order to improve its internal processes. This was accomplished by providing training and growing their employees professionally. The second element of the balanced score card was the “Voice of the Business (VOB)” which focused on the “Breakthrough Productivity Initiative”. The VOB was separated into two areas which were represented by a measurement in productivity and another in revenue generation. These areas were good indicators of whether internal processes were improving which would have been a direct result of improved employee satisfaction. Lastly, the “Voice of the Customer (VOC)” was considered. The VOC focused on providing timely and reliable delivery. In order to track this strategy a set of delivery service measurements systems were created. The VOC is a term used to describe the in-depth process of capturing a customer 's expectations, preferences and aversions. The USPS strategy was alignment of the three strategies which would lead to
Bibliography: Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2011). Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. The BMA Group. (2004). Balanced scorecard background and key performance measures. Retrieved October 10, 2004, from The BMA Group Pty Ltd Online: http://www.bma.com.au/4/bsc_background.asp