An Introduction to Performance Management
Until recently, governments made decisions largely based on instinct, anecdotal evidence, and politics. They lacked the time and resources needed to fully review the outcomes of various programs. Thanks to improvements in technology, data collection, and the rise of performance management programs that emphasize the benefits of data-informed decision making, the public sector is shifting toward governing with data. Forward-thinking governments are optimizing the power of data to create greater efficiency and better results for residents.
Cities across the US are seeing real success with implementing performance management programs, and some of the results are highlighted throughout this guide.
New Orleans, LA
In 2011, Mayor Landrieu, with the support of the city council, created the Office of Performance and Accountability (OPA). OPA’s mission is to promote better city services by incorporating data and evidence in management, decision making, and accountability to improve residents’ lives. BlightStat, a program to reduce blight within New Orleans, achieved success by identifying data trends and making adjustments where necessary. In 2010, there were an estimated 43,755 blighted residences in the community. By prioritizing the code enforcement process In just three years with the knowledge gained through BlightStat, New Orleans has:
- Reduced inspection times from 160 days to 80 days
- Reduced blight by 10,000 units
- Collected $3.4 million in foreclosure liens
- Helped 440 low-income families receive financial assistance to bring their residences up to city housing code
Although there are a variety of performance management systems, including Lean and Six Sigma, “Stat” is one performance management tool that cities across the country have used to drive increases in performance. Each city customizes its Stat program to its needs, but Stat programs almost always include public political commitment to defined goals, continuous measurement and review of data, regular meetings with senior officials to take stock of progress, and ongoing action based on the data being tracked. These elements combine to create a system that encourages commitment, measurement, collaboration, action, and accountability.
Performance management helps government entities use technology and data to openly set goals, hold participants accountable, connect to stakeholders, track progress, and achieve results. By linking data to overarching priorities, collecting and analyzing data and evidence, and determining the desired outputs and outcomes, city leaders can use performance management to best administer policies and programs to the benefit of their community and residents.
Launching a Performance Management Program
When launching a performance management program, a city should consider a variety of key questions. Who should be involved? What goals are most appropriate to be the focus of the performance management system? Answering these questions will help a city to design an effective performance management program.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
By actively checking in with residents, Fort Lauderdale is able to better allocate resources and meet resident needs. After residents weighed in on capital spending priorities in its 2013 annual neighborhood survey, Fort Lauderdale developed a multiyear stormwater management plan. In 2013, 64 percent of respondents saw an increase in flooding and only 27 percent reported being satisfied with the city’s prevention of stormwater−related flooding. The 2014 survey revealed that 52 percent of respondents saw an increase in flooding and 31 percent of respondents were satisfied with stormwater-related flooding prevention.
Building organizational culture around the use of data will be important to ensure that employees across the organization at all levels understand and use performance management principles effectively. In order to adopt these practices in depth, cities will often need assistance, coaching, and training on appropriate strategies to engage employees at all levels of government. GovEx infuses services throughout its engagements to help cities think through culture change when building performance management systems.
Following is an outline of the actions a city should take to implement a successful Stat performance management program:
- Lay the foundation
- Identify citywide priorities
- Gather a team and data
- Define goals and measure progress
- Set short, intermediate, and long-term goals
- Align data to goals
- Launch the system
- Prepare for the first stat meeting
- Host a stat meeting
This guide breaks each steps into actions, discusses key strategies to consider for implementation, and provides discussion questions to help cities determine next steps that are appropriate in their specific context.
Performance Management Principles
Find Advocates: It is very important for the principal to engage a wide variety of stakeholders in the process of articulating strategic goals. Be aware, some stakeholders are more challenging to motivate than others. The best way to build buy in for a new performance management program is to find advocates and champions, both inside and outside government, to help gather energy and resources around the strategic framework. This is done by including them in goal setting. Done in isolation, this work will inevitably fail to gain traction.
Durham, NC: Each year, Durham hosts workshops to solicit resident input on their strategic goals. Ensuring that stakeholders both inside and outside government are invested in strategic goals allows for easier measurement and management work
Be Realistic: The principal must give perspective from the frontlines. If the strategic framework, goals, strategies, or data are disconnected from the realities of the day-to-day process, the framework will be ineffective. Establishing a feedback loop from the frontline service delivery levels helps give perspective. This is critical and should be done immediately.
New York, NY: CompStat was designed to insert data into policing, but also to get feedback on data accuracy and usefulness from frontline officers. Combining data and on-the-ground perspective increased CompStat’s usefulness and longevity.
Engage the Frontlines: The fastest and most effective way to reform is to identify internal champions for change. Very often in government, there is an incredible amount of positive energy and innovation that happens on the frontlines. There is also typically a mirrored level of energy and innovation at the top level of departments. In middle lies a level of career managers who have seen many leaders come and go. Because of their long-term commitment to working in city government, these managers are the most important element of lasting change, and for any progress to take hold, the principal and department leads must make decisions that are credible and get traction with these mid-level managers. A top-down, forced approach will rarely work when creating a performance management program.
Louisville, KY: Departments in Louisville engage in their own department stat meetings in between LouieStat meetings. These meetings help the department prepare for LouieStat meetings and also help staff at all levels engage with data and decision-making within the department.
Choose Crosscutting Initiatives: In this new economy, all governments will be forced to work with fewer resources and be creative. The government’s implementation of performance management can assist in facilitating this transformation, starting with the identification of crosscutting, multi-stakeholder goals. Often, departments duplicate efforts around similar subjects. If not coordinated, there can be duplication in how these programs are administered and funded. When a government brings departments together there are some natural ways programs and initiatives can be consolidated. Avoid creating a framework that will maintain the status quo and reflect government’s historic deference to silos and data hoarding. Governments will see faster results and higher returns if all parties are working together and sharing resources.
New Orleans, LA: With more than 40,000 blighted properties in 2010, New Orleans needed to make reducing blight a crosscutting priority. To do that, the city set up BlightStat, coordinating the efforts of five departments to use data and combine their efforts and programs to eliminate blight.
Stay Connected and Open: All participants, inside and out of a government’s performance management team, must be confident that this is an ongoing process throughout which they will have an opportunity to contribute feedback. By allowing the public to participate in the process, the process itself is inherently improved. The principal should make strategic requests of stakeholders to engage the right thought leaders, and this engagement should play out in an open environment.
Kansas City, MO: All KCStat meetings are live tweeted by city communications staff who engage in a dialogue with stakeholders. By engaging the public in the stat process in real-time during meetings, Kansas City helps to ensure that its stat process continues to address city needs.