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Government and Public Sector survey 2008
16/05/08
Actuate
Corporation has announced the findings of a new worldwide study of
government and public sector performance management.
The report
finds that organisations that apply the principles of strategic
performance management well outperform those that don’t and it
clearly highlights that public sector organisations have an
obsession with measuring performance, but fail to manage it.
The findings, from over 1,000 respondents from the UK, US, Canada
and Australia, confirm that merely having a set of performance
objectives and performance measures in place does not lead to better
performance. In fact, it often leads to a decrease in performance
with perverse and dysfunctional behaviours such as sub-optimisation,
target fixation, and the temptation to juggle figures. These
findings are important in a world where the use of performance
measurement and performance management has mushroomed among
government and public sector organisations. The results of this
study should inspire and create a renewed sense of urgency in this
critical market sector to tackle performance management methodically
and comprehensively
The study, entitled, Strategic Performance Management in Government
and Public Sector Organisations attracted respondents from across
the globe representing central and local government bodies, as well
as national health organisations, police forces, fire and rescue
service organisations, courts and education institutions. The study
was conducted at the end of 2007 and early 2008 and opens by
providing a unique insight into how public service organisations
interpret and direct performance management, and it expands to
highlight 10 principles for effective performance management, which
pressured public service organisations would do well to abide by if
they want to bring everyday operations back in line with top-level
strategy.
The study’s author, Bernard Marr, explains the significance of this
research, “Performance management has never been more critical in
the public sector than it is today as governments across the world
take this extremely seriously and many have introduced legislations
and frameworks for this specific purpose in the organisations that
report to them. Yet it is the way that performance management is
handled and directed that makes the biggest difference between
top-performing and failing public sector organisations. Those who
indulge in the practice merely to keep external moderators off their
backs are missing out on a great opportunity to intelligently and
accurately assess and refine their operations, creating employee
support along the way.” Bernard continues, “We hope that this
research, and specifically the 10 principles or best practices we
have defined and tested, will be used as a blueprint to improve the
performance management practices in government and public sector
organisations around the world, as they strive to address some of
the most pressing challenges they have ever known.”
Key findings include:
• While government and public sector organisations have made huge
progress with performance management, the implementations are often
too mechanistic and numbers focused which prevents improvements in
performance.
• Skills gaps in performance management analytics, i.e.
organisations are drowning in data but thirsting for information.
• The lack of a clearly mapped strategy – which is like expecting to
row a boat forward but without ever telling the people who row the
boat which direction to aim for.
• 68% of organisations have juggled performance data to improve
presentation – this calls into doubt the reliability and validity of
the information used in the decision making process which could lead
to the wrong or counter-productive decisions and resource
allocation. If this perception reflects reality, it also highlights
a potential public accountability issue with top down performance
targeting systems.
“This report is a useful contribution to the debate on performance
management in the public sector, as performance management is one of
the most popular, but confused, areas in public management at the
moment,” said Brendan McCarron, lead advisor, CIPFA Performance
Improvement Network. “The best practices enumerated in the report
will be useful in illustrating that the emphasis within performance
management is changing, and indeed must continue to move from simply
collecting and reporting performance data towards actively using
performance information to learn and improve. I think this study
will make a real impact on how strategic performance management is
developed and applied in the UK public sector.”
Actuate’s interest in the survey findings is fuelled by its global
role as one of the largest providers of performance management
solutions to public and private sector organisations. Steve Fluin,
senior vice president, performance management group at Actuate,
said: “We frequently witness first hand the gap that exists between
expectation and reality when it comes to performance management in
the public sector. This study identifies clear areas for concern,
but more importantly, it highlights the best practices that will
enable these organisations to overcome the challenges inherent in
creating sustainable performance improvement. Those public sector
organisations that embrace these best practices will avoid the
common pitfalls and achieve more effective performance management.”
Full results of the study are available on request. For more
information on the study, its findings and how to secure a copy,
please click
http://www.actuate.com/uk/PublicSector-ResearchPaper.
The report was
researched and authored by world leading expert on strategic
performance management, Bernard Marr from the Advanced Performance
Institute and co-sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Public
Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and Actuate.
Nick Gibson, editor
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