The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance [Hardcover]

Dave Ulrich (Author), Mark A. Huselid (Author), Brian E. Becker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1578511364 | ISBN-13: 978-1578511365 | Publication Date: March 2001 | Edition: 1

Three experts in Human Resources introduce a measurement system that convincingly showcases how HR impacts business performance. Drawing from the authors' ongoing study of nearly 3,000 firms, this book describes a seven-step process for embedding HR systems within the firm's overall strategy--what the authors describe as an HR Scorecard--and measuring its activities in terms that line managers and CEOs will find compelling. Analyzing how each element of the HR system can be designed to enhance firm performance and maximize the overall quality of human capital, this important book heralds the emergence of HR as a strategic powerhouse in today's organizations.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"A compelling way to define and measure HR's effect on the bottom line. The book constitutes a breakthrough in thinking for the HR function."
-Paul McKinnon, Senior Vice President of HR, Dell Computer Corporation

"At the root of every business challenge or opportunity is a human issue. If you believe that, you must take seriously the challenge of strategically planning for, and measuring the results of, human resource work. The HR Scorecard will both challenge your thinking in this area and provide options that you can use today."
-Ralph Christensen, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Hallmark Cards, Inc.

"A must-read primer for human resources professionals who view HR as critical to the success of their companies."
-Mike Tindall, Vice President of Strategic Measures, Prudential

"This fact-filled, thoughtful, well-researched book provides valuable insights on the most pressing issue facing organizations today: how to measure their human resource performance. In an economy increasingly based on knowledge and people, no executive can afford not to read this book."
-Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Business School and Author of The Human Equation

"The HR Scorecard provides a language for HR professionals and line managers working together to really nail the connection between HR interventions and the firm's success."
-Susan Bowick, Vice President and Director of Human Resources, Hewlett-Packard

"The HR Scorecard demonstrates how improved measurements play a vital role in linking human resource initiatives to business strategies and to significant increases in shareholder value."
-Robert Kaplan, Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Harvard Business School and Coauthor of The Balanced Scorecard and The Strategy-Focused Organization

"This book serves as a tremendous strategic tool for HR functions to showcase their impact on the business. If you want to succeed in the new economy as a high-performing HR strategic partner, I recommend you read this book."
-Robyn Ewing, Senior Vice President of HR, Energy Services, Williams

"A must-read for all HR executives. Full of useful findings, methods, measures and examples."
-Edward E. Lawler III, Author of Rewarding Excellence

"The HR Scorecard is the definitive guide for today's human resource professional. It provides perfect insight into a field that has been under much scrutiny and in great need of change."
-Milano Reyna, Worldwide Human Interests Director, Saatchi & Saatchi

About the Author

Mark Huselid is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at Rutgers University. Brian Becker is a Professor and Department Chair of Organizations and Human Resources at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dave Ulrich is a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Business.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; 1 edition (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578511364
• ISBN-13: 978-1578511365
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for the Serious HR Leader's Library, June 28, 2003

By 

Libby Sartain (San Carlos, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance (Hardcover)

As a seasoned HR professional, I have spent the last decade looking for the "Holy Grail" of H.R. Metrics. My quest is not over after reading The HR Scorecard, but the book presented many helpful concepts and tools that we can use to measure the effectiveness of HR as a function, to measure R.O.I. on talent and talent initiatives, to measure the impact of HR on organizational performance, and as a basis for business case development of our deliverables.

Three well respected thought leaders in the HR field have conducted extensive research of more than 2500 companies to uncover a model for implementing HR strategy and measuring results. If fully employed HR will deliver results linked to higher functional and organizational performance.

To transform the structure of HR into a strategic function, HR leaders must:

1. Clearly define the business strategy.
2. Build a business case for HR as a strategic asset.
3. Create a strategy map (with leading and lagging indicators, and tangibles and intangibles.)
4. Identify HR Deliverables within the strategy map.
5. Align the HR architecture with HR deliverables.
6. Design the strategic measurement System.
7. Implement management by measurement.

The concepts in this book are useful but may not be practical for all HR leaders. This book is for organizations that have the resources to implement an in-depth system of measuring their HR performance. It is not a way to create a simple snapshot to be included in business reviews. While the authors suggest using no more than 25 measures so as not to create a burdensome systems, many of the examples in the book are quite complex and can by used only by the largest of organizations. It is also difficult to pick just a few efficiency measures and performance drivers from the comprehesive list prepared by the authors.

Real life examples of scorecards are shown from organizations such as Verizon/GTE, General Mills, and General Electric. While these examples can help any size HR department think through how to measure the performance of their function, I would like to see a smaller organization profiled with more simple measures.

This book should be in the library of all serious HR practitioners. It is well written, well researched, and well presented. If the tools and concepts are implemented, the HR function can rise to a new level. For those in smaller organizations, a few HR efficiency measures can be gleaned to build a simpler scorecard based on the key HR deliverables for the enterprise.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Help for a changing field, May 30, 2001

By 

Anne S. Headley (University Park, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance (Hardcover)

No fluff here! This book outlines, then defines a paradigm for effective HR functioning within a changing organization. The authors suggest and document that increased measurement of key data will lead to enhanced value to the organization and its customers. Yesterday's model of HR tasks is no longer enough. This book can guide the experienced human resource professional into a new role in strategic implementation.

I'm a career counselor, not a human resources professional. I hear plenty of stories of burn-out and disillusionment in the field, probably because the tasks and obligations of the HR field have changed as drastically as any. This book can provide a re-education to those who wonder what is going on, and why yesterday's solutions just don't work.

I would have welcomed a personal-type note to the individuals caught up in transitions. The authors have provided information, but have not offered encouragement. It would have been a definite plus to this impressive publications.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wealth of Ideas, May 27, 2006

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance (Hardcover)

If you're in HR and need to establish measures for the value you add, this book contains a huge array of options for measurement. As a resource for "brainstorming" it's unparalleled.

Where the book breaks down is focus. As Jerry McAdams says, measure many things but reward a few. If HR were honestly to establish and maintain 100 measurements, how could even an airline pilot monitor that many gauges on the the dashboard?

It would have been much better if the authors had said, "These are the half-dozen key, even 'universal' measures of HR value-added." As it is, the reader has to wade through the enormous number of options furnished and hope that they've gotten it right.

Worse yet: with all these measures, HR takes "the easy way out" and suboptimizes, picking only those measures which make HR look good. If measures of self-aggrandizement is all we've accomplished, we've not helped our businesses at all.