The case for simple comparison: A simple performance scorecard for effectiveness and efficiency

Corporate real estate (CRE) service delivery is experiencing a paradigm shift. A short period ago, the focus was on speed to delivery ‐ how quickly the CRE department could identify, procure and prepare space for the expectant workforce. In today’s economic environment, CRE departments are focusing on ways to become more effective and efficient in their use of resources. The development and use of a simplified scorecard, based on Kaplan & Norton’s Balanced Scorecard, can assist in refocusing activities. In this paper, the authors propose a Simplified Scorecard framework and development process which serves to focus CRE efforts on a minimal number of factors, aligned with corporate strategy, thereby assisting the CRE department in achieving greater corporate success. Moreover, the proposed scorecard offers a manageable number of performance metrics for measuring and monitoring portfolio efficiency and effectiveness. Such a scorecard is needed to form a common understanding of key corporate success factors, manage CRE resources, prioritise CRE activities and compare a company’s real estate performance against that of its peers.