Performance rating or performance grading refers to converting performance expressed as a percentage into ratings or grades. A typical example of such a conversion is:
- 0–40% → Poor
- 41–70% → Average
- 71–100% → Good
In BSC Designer, you can apply performance rating at the level of KPIs, goals, perspectives, and scorecards.
Here are the steps to follow:
- Add the required rating system as a custom measure unit
- Assign this measure unit to the item
- (Optional) Change the glyph of the item
Let’s discuss how to do it in practice.
Adding a Rating System
To add a new rating system, follow the steps to create measure units:
- Open any scorecard and select an item on the KPIs tab
- On the General tab, click the Edit button next to the Unit of measure dropdown
- Enter the captions and corresponding values
- Decide how the performance should be matched with the grades using the Value matching option. Use the default By range if the matching is based on thresholds.
The new rating system is now created.

Assigning Measure Units
Once a new measure unit is created, you can assign it to any item in the scorecard by selecting it from the Measure units dropdown.

For the platform, this rating system is treated as just another measurement unit. This means you can have multiple rating systems across your scorecards.
Changing the Glyph of the Item
Once measurement units are applied, the value of the item will be shown as one of the predefined labels (e.g., “Poor”, “Average”, “Good”) instead of a numerical value.
If you want to display this value on the strategy map, you’ll need to change the glyph of the item:
- Select the item
- Switch to the Context tab
- Change the Glyph to Value
![]()
If you need to show the performance rating in the My Scorecards section, select the root element of the scorecard and update its glyph accordingly.
- See It In Action: For a practical example of how flexible, standardized KPI scoring accelerates strategy implementation in a financial organization, read our case study.

BSC Designer is strategy execution software that enhances strategy formulation and execution through KPIs, strategy maps, and dashboards. Our proprietary strategy implementation system guides companies in practical application of strategic planning.