Citation
Bourne, M. (2005), "Book review", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 9 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/mbe.2005.26709aab.006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Book review
Book review
The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy and PerformanceB.E. Becker, M.A. Huselid and D. UlrichHarvard Business School PressBoston, MA2001DOI:10.1108/13683040510588873
With a forward by David Norton, this book is the latest offering from Harvard Business School Press on the balanced scorecard.
There is a growing feeling of disconnect between the human resources (HR) function and performance measurement. A number of books are now being published to close the gap by developing a more strategic role for HR and this clearly is one of the aims of this book.
Besides including a seven-step guide for creating an HR scorecard, there is also a chapter on measuring the costs and benefits of HR interventions – something which is now becoming popular.
However, the main contribution of this book is in the alignment of HR and strategy. The authors argue for the alignment of:
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elements of the HR system;
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development of skills and motivation;
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HR deliverables; and
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corporate strategy.
Often, HR policies in organisations appear to be completely disassociated with what the organisation is trying to achieve. The set of matrices presented in this book provide a set of simple tests to assess the degree of alignment and conflict. Elements of the HR system are contrasted with the development of skills and motivation, then these in turn are contrasted with HR deliverables and HR deliverables with Corporate Strategy. In this way a complete picture is built up as to how the HR function contributes and a profile emerges of where the HR practices are in conflict with what is required.
As researchers are finding that performance of people is one of the most important factors in developing high levels of business performance, books which engage the HR function more fully in the wider corporate strategy debate have to be welcomed.
Mike BourneCentre for Business Performance, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK