SPM in Practice: Prizma (Bosnia)

This report describes social performance management (SPM) in Prizma, Bosnia.Prizma has positioned itself at the low end of the Bosnian microfinance market, consistent with its commitment to social performance. Its SPM strategy includes:

• Understanding the nature of poverty in the post-war setting and its own success in reaching poor people;
• Social responsibility towards staff;
• Using board and management analysis to strengthen social performance;
• Increasing internal and external accountability towards depth of outreach and impact;
• Positioning itself strategically to remain effective in an increasingly competitive environment;
• Seeking to enhance social performance by institutionalizing organizational learning and deepening poverty outreach, focusing on leadership, organizational culture, incentives, and systems.

The report states that Prizma has learnt a number of key lessons on effectively managing social performance. These include importance of buy-in from the board, management and staff for effectiveness and cost effectiveness of SPM, importance of drawing upon external expertise and internal skills and thinking through the implications of SPM at the start of the design process.