The effect of balanced scorecard on employee performance: (Case of Probation and After Care Service in the Office of the Vice President and Ministry of Home Affairs)

This study sought to investigate the effect of balanced scorecard (BSC) on employee performance. This was necessitated by the evidence that in the year 2004/2005 external evaluation gauging the best ten and last ten Kenya government ministries on performance achievement rated Probation and After Care Service department among others at 2.73. The ranking was based on a pre-determined criterion of values which positioned the sector with the entire parent ministry, Office of the Vice President and of Ministry of Home Affairs at position 27 out of 33 Ministries. This was an indicator that the sector's general performance needed urgent improvement. Since performance measurement is critical to achieving an organization's objectives and translating strategy into action, the Probation and After Care Service adopted the BSC approach and instituted new initiatives in order to improve their performance by aligning its strategies with its operations to prosper in a competitive environment. The BSC is a strategic tool which establishes the framework in which the performance of all or part of an organisation towards strategic goals can be directed, monitored, and refined. To be useful, a BSC has to include the right measures and targets, which is a difficult thing to do. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of BSC four perspectives of customer orientation, internal business process, financial support, growth and learning on employee performance. The study employed a survey design and used a purposive sampling technique to select Nairobi, North Rift Valley, South Rift Valley and Nyanza Provinces based on prior information that it has a large population of 245 probation officers. A stratified simple random method was applied to draw 98 respondents and a return rate of 97% of the respondents was obtained. Data for survey was obtained from both Probation and After Care Service reports and records. The research was executed by use of pre-coded questionnaires which were distributed by the researcher. Data collected was analysed through both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques, involving descriptive statistics and frequency distribution. Inferences have been made for purposes of drawing generalizations and conclusions. The study's findings have indicated that, all the four BSC perspectives improve employee performance. This study recommends that all the four BSC perspectives must be given equal importance to achieve maximum effectiveness of employees. The financial support perspective should always be pegged to planning and target setting and be used as a basis for business in the organisation. The results of this study will be useful to the GOK in formulating policies in relation to strategic measurement systems. Probation and After Care Service will especially benefit from BSC information needed to enable improved alignment behind strategic goals across the whole organisation, strengthen existing internal business processes, making them more focused on achieving and maintaining performance improvements for effective employee performance.