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Introduction to performance management - Davy Jones

A day in the life of a performance manager..

The thrill of victory

Preparing to do battle

The agonyof defeat

• “Performance management is what an organisation does to realise its aspirations”

• “What you do to improve and maintain good performance”

• “Performance management includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an

effective and efficient manner”• It is NOT a particular system or IT product• It should NOT be an add-on, something imposed

on an organisation or people• Simply, it is good management

Definitions of performance management

• Each country is unique• Each has a specific constitutional, legal and

policy framework• Performance management in each country

needs to reflect that particular context • English local public services have been most

highly centralised in Europe • Let’s look at English public services…• And then look at what we have learned…

Beware “one size fits all” solutions

Local public services in England

Mainly publica) Health services

b) Police and probation servicesc) Social security

and tax

Privatised Water, gas

and electricity

Education

Councils provide... Others provide….

Schools

Refuse collection and street cleaning

Social services

Housing and benefits

Libraries

Planning

Centralised local public services

Financially

Legally

Until 2000, local councils could only do what particular laws allowed them to do

75% approx council expenditure comes from central Government25% approx only comes from local taxation

£180bn

EXTERNAL

EXTERNAL AUDITAUDIT

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

INDICATORS

INDICATORS

GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONINTERVENTION

TOWN HALL

INSPECTIONINSPECTION

How local services are controlled

• Highly centralised system stifles local innovation and creates a lack of “ownership” by local agencies & staff

What have we learned?

• Government departmentalism obstructs local agencies working in partnership on local issues

• Obsession with targets, indicators and inspections can lead to focus on process (“tick box”) not outcomes

• Performance management most successful where public agencies use it because it helps them do their jobs better

Performance management characteristics

Focus on outcomes

Citizenengagement

Accountabilityfor results

Vision/leadership

Organisationalculture - it’severybody’s

job

• Understanding national context and policies• Understanding and consulting

local communities - demographics, segmentation users and non-users

• Articulating a local vision and strategy

• Developing a plan(s) to deliver that strategy

• Leading by example from the top• Taking the organisation & staff with you

Vision and leadership

• The key focus should be on improving the quality of life and services for local citizens

• Partnership working is the key - very few important local issues are solved by one agency working alone

• Day to day service planning and finances must be linked to focus on outcomes

• Processes and the organisation’s own interests are secondary to this goal

Focus on outcomes

• Listening to citizens, service users, partner organisations and politicians is key - juggle the information to make choices

Engaging citizens and politicians

• How can you know whether your priorities are the right ones if you have not consulted local citizens?

• How can you know whether services are good unless you have asked users (& non-users)?

• Commitment from managers at every level and from politicians to results/outcomes essential

• Aligning processes and systems to achieve those results - removing obstacles

• Allowing managers to devise best way to achieve results

• Clarify responsibility for achieving the results

• Planning and performance measurement should be seen as “normal” and helpful

Accountability for results

• Aiming at good performance and focus on outcomes for citizens should permeate the whole organisation from top to bottom

• Performance management is not just something for specialists

• Performance management should not be seen as imposed by outsiders - Government, officials, politicians, managers

• Performance management is everyone’s job!

Organisational culture-it’s everyone’s job

Formulatestrategy

Set objectives,standardsand targets

Develop action plansResources,

staff & budgetalignment

Monitorperformance Using PIs

Reviewperformanceand policies

ContinuousService

Improvement

Performance Management Framework

• “Performance measurement is the use of statistical evidence to determine progress toward specific

defined organizational objectives”• “Performance measurement indicates how well an

organisation is performing against its aims and objectives”

• Lots of systems exist to do this• Lots of organisations exist to sell them to you !• Find a system that works for you

Definitions of performance measurement

Why measure?

• What gets measured gets done

• If you don’t measure results, you can’t tell success from failure

• If you can’t see success, you can’t reward it

• If you can’t reward success, you’re probably rewarding failure

• If you can’t see success, you can’t learn from it

• If you can’t recognise failure, you can’t correct it

Osborne & Gaebler, Reinventing Government

• If you can demonstrate results, you can win public support

• Focused: on the organisation’s objectives and aims• Appropriate: to and useful for those using it• Balanced: able to give a complete picture• Robust: can survive organisational/staff changes• Integrated: is part of the business/service planning• Cost Effective: balances the benefits with the costs

“Measure what you value, don’t just value what you measure”

Good performance measurement is..

Performance information

Resources Inputs Outputs Outcomes

Economy Efficiency Effectiveness

Value for money

• Targets are the commitments made in advance to reach a stated level of service

• Specific: ideally to achieve something specific

• Measurable: a clear definition and way of measuring it

• Achievable: but also involving an element of challenge

• Relevant: linked to the organisation’s objectives

• Timely: have a clear timeframe for achievement

“SMART” targets

Strengths of PIsStrengths of PIs

• Shining a light on performance

• highlighting variations

• tracking performance trends

• stimulate public debate

PIs have limitations too...PIs have limitations too...

• Some things hard to measure

• Perverse incentive danger

• Only the what not the why

PIs necessarybut not

sufficient forjudgement

• Relevant

• No perverse incentives

• Well defined

• Attributable

• Comparable

• Timely

• Reliable

• Cost effective

What makes a good PI ?

• Performance management essential to help your organisation to reach its goals

• Performance measurement is key to assess how well you are doing

• No system is perfect or works for everyone• Win the “battle for hearts and minds” - show why

performance management is everyone’s job• It’s about the quality of life and outcomes for

local citizens• It’s about partnership working, citizen

engagement and good management

Summary

Contact

Davy Jones

davy.jones@govint.orgwww.govint.org07932 616843

Break up into pairs for a short exercise on PIs !

1) Each of you should define an outcome of your

organisation and then set a PI related to this outcome

2) Ask your partner to do the SMART test and to check the quality of your PI

3) Discuss with your partner whether your agency can “control” the achievement of this PI or whether you need to work with other agencies to achieve it

Group exercise