Performance measurement in a South African government social services department: A balanced scorecard approach

We developed a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) questionnaire and used it to measure the performance of a South African government social services department. The quantitative survey approach was adopted in which a questionnaire was administered to a purposively recruited sample of 272 managers and employees of a South African government social services department. We used the four performance measures of the BSC, namely customer satisfaction, innovation and learning, internal processes and financial performance to develop the questionnaire. Data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0). We employed simple descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages to determine performance in various strategic and operational areas within the department. We also used the mean score ranking technique to compare overall departmental performance based on the BSC indicators. Using the four performance indicators of the BSC, we were then able to establish performance levels in various areas of the department. Results of the study reveal that performance of the department was highest in five areas, namely promotion of good corporate ethics, service quality, ability to meet client demands, promotion of good corporate values and the fostering of good relations with other organisations. Performance was lowest in five areas, namely attrition of staff, divisional workload, corruption, work to employee ratio and the speed at which departmental programs are implemented. Among the four BSC performance indicators used in the study, performance was highest in two aspects, namely innovation and learning and customer satisfaction, with performance being lowest in internal processes.