The Productivity Initiative is a 10-year program launched by the King County Wastewater Treatment Division to make sure that ratepayers are getting the best return for their investment in wastewater treatment services.

Balanced Scorecard

• Overview
• 2008 measures 
• How ratings are applied to measurements
• 2008 summary of overall results

Overview

WTD uses a Balanced Scorecard, a performance measurement tool often used in private business, to measure its overall performance.  Balanced scorecards were developed in the 1990s as tools for businesses and organizations to evaluate performance, beyond just financial measurements, by providing performance feedback from multiple perspectives.  WTD uses the scorecard as a management tool – to monitor how well the programs and strategies developed as part of the Productivity Initiative are working.  The scorecard ensures that pilot program decisions take into account different perspectives, including financial performance, business practices, customer focus, and employee management.  These four areas of performance are measured by four corresponding quadrants of the scorecard.

In 2001, WTD management identified performance indicators in each of the four quadrants and began collecting data so that year-to-year comparisons could be made during the 10 years of the pilot program. The targets are set to be very aggressive and comparable to results reflecting the performance of the best wastewater programs in the nation.

A performance measurement system such as this allows a public utility to align its service levels with operational and financial performance.  With it, a utility can get feedback needed to guide planning efforts.  The four quadrants and their key measures are shown and described on the following pages.

2008 measures

In early 2008, the WTD Management Team updated performance measures to refine or modify the scorecard measures and increase employee accountability and involvement. While the division has operated with performance measures for several years, the new vision, mission, and goals (developed in 2006), and the full implementation of KingStat, created an opportunity to refine the measures to accurately provide data that is aligned with the department’s goals, and provide guidance on how to refine priorities. Section managers also updated their section performance measures in 2008.  This effort will help us align WTD’s business plan with individual employee performance in 2009 and 2010.

How Ratings are Applied to Measurements

Beginning in 2006, the methodology of color ratings was standardized so that a green rating is achieved when the performance-to-target ratio is equal to or greater than 100 percent; a measure is rated yellow when the performance-to-target ratio is 90-99 percent; and a measure receives a color rating of red when its performance-to-target ratio is less than 90 percent. However, any performance for environmentally critical measures or permit compliance that falls below 100 percent of target will receive a color rating of red.

• ‘Green’ indicates that the target was satisfactorily met.  A green rating is only achieved when performance is at 100 percent of the target.
• ‘Yellow’ indicates performance was within 90-99 percent of established target.  For environmentally-critical measures, such as NPDES compliance, there is no yellow rating.  For those measures, a rating of red is given for any performance falling below target.
• ‘Red’ means performance has fallen below 90 percent of established target.  For critical measures in which performance must be maintained at or above 100 percent, red indicates failing to meet 100 percent of target.

2008 Summary of Overall Results

In 2008, all four quadrants of the Balanced Scorecard were rated yellow.  While several individual measures improved performance ratings, the overall color ratings for the four quadrants remained the same as they were in 2007.  Summaries of performance results in each quadrant are provided below.

Financial Performance Results

The Financial Performance quadrant of the Balanced Scorecard includes measures that indicate the overall financial health of WTD and the efficiency with which the division provides services to its customers and stakeholders.

The Financial Performance quadrant was rated yellow overall.  In 2008, the wastewater program met its targets for most financial measures, including the annual productivity operating expenditures, debt service coverage ratio, sewer rate comparisons to other agencies and to inflation, and the annual accomplishment rate for capital expenditures. The division did not meet its inflation based target for its efficiency measure, which is the cost per pound of pollutants removed in the wastewater treatment process.

Business Practices Results

The Business Practices quadrant of the scorecard includes four categories of measures that are key to WTD’s business practices: permit compliance, operational performance, resource recovery, and effluent non-degradation.  Included in these categories are measures of WTD’s compliance with its NPDES and other permits, its stewardship of public health and water quality (in terms of keeping down sewer overflows and conducting sediment cleanups), resource reclamation efforts, and maintaining high standards for the quality of treated wastewater effluent.

The Business Practices quadrant was rated yellow overall.  In 2008, WTD achieved 100 percent compliance with its NPDES permits for effluent quality, and had no violations of its NPDES stormwater construction permits.  However, the division had one notice of violation for a spill in its conveyance system, and fell slightly below 100 percent compliance on its air quality and reclaimed water permits.  WTD met or exceeded targets for measures related to sewer overflows, environmental cleanup, and environmental quality of treated wastewater effluent.  The division also met or exceeded targets for two of its resource recovery measures; biosolids recycling and reclaimed water volumes.  The measure for recovery and reuse of biogas did not meet target and was rated red.  This measure is red due to aging cogeneration equipment that is currently offline at one of the treatment plants.  A program is underway to replace the equipment by 2012, which will bring biogas utilization rates back up to target.

Customer Focus Results

The Customer Focus quadrant of the scorecard includes measures that look at how component agencies view the quality and value of their contract services with WTD.  This quadrant also looks at how neighbors to WTD facilities, both residential and business, view WTD as a neighbor.  A contract customer survey is sent out annually to customers and a Near Neighbor Survey is administered every other year.  Questions in the contract customer surveys are rated on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent.  The target established for these measures is 4, a rating of very good.  The results of the Near Neighbor Survey are calculated as a percentage of neighbors and businesses who view the West Point and South Treatment Plants as good neighbors. The target established for this measure is 75 percent.

The Customer Focus quadrant was rated yellow overall.  Improved local agency satisfaction with the Metropolitan Water Pollution Abatement Advisory Committee (MWPAAC) process changed that measure’s ratings from red to yellow in 2008.  The customer satisfaction rating remained consistent from 2007 to 2008, however the quality of contract services rating declined from yellow to red in 2008.  The overall response rate to the annual customer feedback survey increased significantly in 2008 from 38 percent to 62 percent, changing that measure’s rating from red to green.  The Near Neighbor Survey was not administered in 2008; therefore there is no new data to report. In 2007, that measure was rated yellow.

Employee Management Results

The Employee Management quadrant of the scorecard includes measures tied to results from an annual employee survey, such as overall satisfaction with jobs and employee ratings of respectfulness in the workplace.  There are also measures for the employee retention rate, percentage of employees with professional certifications or licenses, and a safety measure that looks at the percentage of employees with time loss injuries that are able to return to transitional duty or regular duty within three days of medical release.

The Employee Management quadrant was rated yellow.  Measures related to employee retention, percentage of employees with professional licenses and certifications, and rate of transfer of employees with time-loss injuries to transitional duty assignments were all rated green in 2008.  Employee satisfaction with workplace safety and the rating of respectfulness in the workplace were both rated yellow.  Overall employee satisfaction with jobs fell from yellow to red in 2008.  This decline may be attributable to declining economic conditions and the implementation of furloughs.