Using standardized outcome measures in the federal government

This article demonstrates the strategic role HR can play in the government's efforts to measure its effectiveness. As federal agencies are being held increasingly accountable for their performance, the need for standardized outcome measures to assess results has become critical. The authors describe a balanced‐measures approach for the federal government and provide examples of generic, standardized measures for each perspective of the Balanced Scorecard, including key measures for the HR function. The authors also detail the development of one such measure, a generic customer satisfaction survey. The survey was pilot‐tested with three HR organizations in the federal government and is being used by agencies to measure satisfaction with internal services including HR. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.