The Growing Importance of Performance Management Systems at the Federal Level in the United States

1

• The Growing Importance of Performance Management
  Systems at the Federal Level in the United States
• Professor Kenneth Apfel
• University of Maryland

2
KEY COMPONENTS OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLANS

• System of measuring performance, setting
  performance goals and establishing
  accountabilities
• System used to manage the organization (through
  common language)
• System linked to strategic planning and
  evaluation processes
• Internal and external involvement and acceptance
  of system - transparency

3
PERFORMANCE-STAT TENETS

• Accurate and timely intelligence shared by all.
• Rapid deployment of resources
• Effective tactics and strategies
• Relentless follow-up and assessment

4
The Baltimore Citi-Stat Process

• Participating agencies submit customized data
  templates on a regular basis to report on key
  performance indicators.

5
Mapping
Digital maps are used to plot complaints, vacant
homes, lead paint violations, food
inspections, and potholes, allowing managers to
track employee performance and public service
delivery.
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9

• Most states - and many US cities - have now
  established performance management systems in
  varying forms.
• This is a harder task for the US Federal
  Government, but performance systems are growing
  in importance.
• Older history Johnson, Nixon, Reagan

10
PRESIDENT CLINTONS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
APPROACH

• Use Government Performance and Results Act to
  drive reforms a federal law, not just
  administrative reforms by the Executive Branch
• National Performance Review over 1,200
  proposals bubbled up.
• Outcomes to be transparent
• Hammer Awards recognition and rewards for major
  successes

11
GPRA FRAMEWORK

• Strategic Plans
• general goals and objectives, including outcome-
  related goals and objectives, for the major
  agency functions
• Annual Performance Plans
• establish performance goals to define the level
  of performance to be achieved by a program
  activity
• Program Performance Reports
• Includes the performance indicators established
  in the agency performance plan, along with the
  actual program performance achieved compared with
  the performance goals expressed in the plan for
  that fiscal year.

12
SSAs Performance Management Plan

• INTERNAL EXTERNAL INVOLVEMENT IN
• Mission
• Strategic Plan (5 year plan)
• Annual Performance Plan (annual plan)
• Annual Performance Reports (results)
• Performance reinforced through
• Monthly Executive meetings
• Quarterly Management Meetings
• Regional/Field Actions Drive Down in
  Organization
• Link to Accountability

13
President Bushs Performance Management Approach

• Presidents Management Scorecard
• Program Assessment Review Tool
• Greater transparency
• A forceful, focused, high level approach!

14
Executive Branch Management Scorecard
15
Program Assessment Rating Tool

• Assesses Programs in Four Key Dimensions
• Purpose and Design
• Planning
• Management
• Results and Accountability
• Generates Objective Program Ratings
• Effective
• Moderately Effective
• Adequate
• Ineffective
• Results Not Demonstrated
• Encourages Continuous Improvement
• Applies Consistent Framework to all Programs

16
National Academy of Public Administration Study
on Federal Performance Management

• Strengthen performance initiatives by
• Focusing on high Administration priorities
• Establishing agency accountability
• Establishing more transparency
• Conducting consultations with Congress
• Ensuring that performance systems are both useful
  and used

17
The Governance Dilemma (Donald Kettl)

• Coordination
• Growing need for network-based solutions
• No one isor can bein charge of results
• Need for a leader to guide process
• Environment
• Intense, immediate media coverage
• Large, rapid costs from program failure
• Serious problems spread globally
• Constraints
• Money fiscal limits
• Management results we have are as good as it
  gets
• Intellectual capital
• No clear guide for theory or practice

18
President Obamas Performance Management Approach

• A new, strengthened performance law
• Establish a new White House and agency senior
  executive Chief Performance Officer
• Focus all agency performance around 2-4 key
  performance goals
• Establish broad-based, cross-cutting networked
  goals
• Make performance information both a useful and a
  used management tool

19
The Government Performance and Results
Modernization Act of 2010

• Signed into law on January 4, 2011-- reinforces
  the 1993 GPRA performance legislation
• White House to work with agencies to create a
  Federal Performance Plan and Federal Priority
  Goals.
• White House to develop government-wide
  performance goals in consultation with key
  committees of Congress. 
• All federal agencies to designate a Chief
  Operating Officer and a Performance Improvement
  Officer
• Systems need more transparency

20
Recovery.gov
21
Recovery.gov
22
WWW.data.gov(and next generation)
23
USAspending.gov
24
Most ImportantPerformance.gov

• This new site will include performance and
  evaluation information for all federal agencies
• Still in development stage --not yet ready for
  public viewing
• Soon!

25
Example of Performance.gov Dept of Housing and
Urban Development

• HUDStat
• -- HUD is using HUDStat meetings frequent
  goal-focused, data-driven discussions to
  identify problems and examine them more carefully
  to find patterns and causal relationships, speed
  progress, improve quality, prevent or reduce
  problems, and cut costs.
• --In one HUDStat meeting that focused on rental
  housing, HUD examined geographic disparities in
  public housing occupancy rates to identify
  opportunities for increasing the number of
  renters it serves. HUDStat sessions inform
  program and budget decisions.

26
Example of Performance.gov Food and Drug
Administration

• FDA-TRACK
• --FDA-Track develops, monitors, and reports on
  monthly performance measures, which are then
  analyzed and discussed with Agency's senior
  leadership.
• --FDA-Track website allows the public to view
  FDAs performance data, learn about the agencys
  breadth of responsibilities, and track progress.
• --FDA-Track includes important Agency-wide
  initiatives, such as progress on egg farm
  inspections, H1N1 vaccines and medical
  countermeasures.

27
Example of Performance.gov Social Security
Administration

• SSA Performance Improvement Officer is the new,
  accountable official
• All federal agencies required to establish
  ambitious Priority Goals to achieve over the next
  18-24 months. Social Security Administration has
  four Priority Goals
• Increase benefit applications filed online
• Reduce backlogs for disability claims
• Improve customers service experience
• Ensure effective stewardship by increasing
  program integrity efforts
• SSA evaluations to be included in Annual
  Performance and Accountability Reports

28
Example Crosscutting Goals

• High Priority Performance Goals limited number,
  high public value, achievable in 18-24 months
• Examples
• Reduce the population of homeless veterans to
  59,000 by June, 2012 (HUD and VA and HHS)
• By the end of 2011, increase the number of
  provinces in Afghanistan in which women and
  children are food secure from 10 to 14. (USDA,
  State, Defense)
• Evaluation initiatives linked to goals

29
CLINTON AND BUSH AND OBAMA ADMINISTRATIONS

• The past two decades a stronger approach than
  the performance initiatives of prior US
  Administrations.
• Focus on results federal laws enacted with
  greater focus on performance.
• Major, high visibility efforts by all three
  Presidents. And all newer initiatives were built
  on the performance initiatives (and weaknesses)
  of prior Administrations.
• All important steps. But the increasingly
  networked nature of public challenges will
  test the performance management movement in the
  years ahead. Who is accountable for what?
• PREDICTION Future Presidents may criticize past
  Presidential efforts -- but they will build on
  past efforts, with increased transparency.
  Performance management is here to stay.