A group of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) employees were given special training in Balanced Scorecard in Boston, United States, recently. The training was conducted by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton, pioneers of the strategic planning and management system. The programme is in line with its vision of enhancing the professional capabilities of the employees to achieve the strategic goals. The participation in the training course is part of the initiatives by ADTA to equip its staff with expertise in strategic planning and performance monitoring through world-acknowledged best practices. The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that is used extensively in business and industry, government and non-profit organisations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organisation, improve internal and external communications and monitor organisation performance against strategic goals. The Balanced Scorecard methodology builds on some key concepts of previous management ideas such as Total Quality Management (TQM), including customer-defined quality, continuous improvement and employee empowerment. In the past 10 years, the Balanced Scorecard has emerged as one of the successful tools and best practices for measuring performance. Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Hammadi, ADTA Deputy Director General for Business Support Services, said: "The training course will go a long way in enhancing the platform for planning, execution, monitoring and developing the performance measurement at ADTA and will eventually help in upgrading the services to the partners, stakeholders and other beneficiaries. The participation in this programme reflects the keenness of ADTA in enhancing the skills of local employees to achieve the goals of the five-year strategic plans unveiled earlier this year." He highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing and transfer within the organisation for the benefit of other employees and further inculcating teamwork and innovation among other organisational values. ADTA, he said, has ties with international institutions like Insead Business School in Fontainebleau, near Paris, in developing the professional capabilities and leadership of its employees. Mr. Mohammed Khalfan Al Dhaheri, ADTA Manager for Quality and Performance Management, said: "The Balanced Scorecard has evolved from its early use as a simple performance measurement framework to a full strategic planning and management system. It provides a framework that not only provides performance measurements, but helps planners identify what should be done and measured." "The Balanced Scorecard enables organisations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results," he added.

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