Integrating Social Performance Management into Strategic Business Planning of MFIs

by Veena Yamini and Matthew Leonard
Aug 16, 2010
1 min

This note talks about the approach of MicroSave that has been of viewing SBP and social performance management (SPM) as integrated rather than stand-alone processes.

MicroSave has run Strategic Business Planning (SBP) in over 100 MFIs across Asia and Africa including several of the leading NBFCs in India and the top tier MFIs in the Philippines. The SBP enables MFIs to improve synergies between excellence in market-led financial services and social performance.

The approach of MicroSave has been of viewing SBP and social performance management (SPM) as integrated rather than stand alone processes. Hence, while the SBP lays out the goals, key objectives, measures/targets and activities of an organisation (KOGMA), SPM consists of (re)designing key operational policies, processes and systems to reflect an MFI’s social aspirations. Stated synergy is value-adding.

Aforesaid integration involves the following distinct steps:
– Periodic assessment of the mission, values and vision of an organisation in order to evaluate the extent of achievement of the mission and to lay down strategies to prevent possible ‘mission drift’ away from social orientation.
– Competition analysis and institutional analysis to better understand the ‘environment’ and devise policies/strategies for competitive edge.
– Evolving strategies to better serve social ends
– Evaluation of strategies in the context of financial projections and budgets
– Work planning and system analysis with a social perspective
– Creating measures and targets for goal achievement
Implementing and monitoring KOGMA (Key Objectives, Goals, Measures, Activities)/ Goals Analysis, for organisational alignment from top to bottom in terms of the stated parameters, through the process of cascading.