Tools and Guidance
The use of agreed targets is the main tool for managing performance. However the complexity of stipulating achievable public goals has often led ambitious governments to create a proliferation of measures which have burdened public services rather than allowing them to improve. As well as reforming their measures, many governments have begun to extensively publicise their overall targets in an effort to improve accountability and feedback.
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Payment by Outcome: A Commissioner's Toolkit (PDF) Sturgess, Gary L. and Cumming, Lauren M. with Dicker, James; Sotiropoulos, Alexis and Sultan, Nadiya, 2011 2020 Public Services Trust Payment-by-outcome is a form of performance management where the providers of public services are remunerated according to the outcomes they achieve rather than their effort. This report continues the work begun in Better Outcomes (below) and explores the tools that a payment-by-outcome approach brings to public performance management. It draws on insights from the relevant academic and public policy literature as well the lessons from selected case studies in welfare to work, long-term condition management and offender management. UK
Measuring Outcomes for Public Service Users (PDF) Office of National Statistics, 2010 The final report of a three year study evaluating the the outcomes from adult social care and early years children's services. It also analyses the growth and impact of volutary sector delivery. UK
Public Service Agreements (PDF) HM Treasury , 2007 HM Treasury's web page containing the primary performance management indicators in the UK, the Public Service Agreements. The PSAs underline the key policy outcomes that the Government has committed to during each three-year spending period. This page also contains useful links to understand how the PSAs are created, implemented and evaluated. UK
ExpectMore.gov (Web Page) US Office of Management and Budget and Federal Agencies, 2007 A US Government website which tracks the outcomes of all federally approved programmes in the US, aiming to raise citizens' awareness about government performance. The evaluation is updated biannually through the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) designed to "help assess the program's purpose, design, planning, management, results, and accountability to determine its overall effectiveness". USA
Managing for Outcomes - Guidance for departments (Web Page) New Zealand's State Services Commission, 2007 This web page contains materials on the Managing for Outcomes initiative in New Zealand. The site provides good examples of performance management initiatives in action and ways in which they can be implemented. New Zealand
Review of Government Service Provision (Web Page) Council of Australian Governments , 2007 The Review of Government Service Provision was established in 1993 by the Council of Australian Governments to provide information on the effectiveness and efficiency of government services in Australia. Australia
Management Accountability Framework (Web Page) Treasury Board Secretariat, 2007 An explanation of the framework within which management expectations are set and assessed for public services using a series of indicators and associated measures. Canada
Getting Better at Managing for Outcomes: A tool to help organisations consider their progress in results-based management and identify development objectives (PDF) New Zealand's State Services Commission, 2005 A self assessment tool for departments within government to measure performance as well as provide useful feedback for the government as a whole. ISBN 0-478-24499-1 New Zealand
Senior Budget Officials Network on Performance and Results (Web Page) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005 OECD website of the Senior Budget Official's task force created to generate advice and guidelines that would help countries to design and implement performance- and results-based budgeting and management reforms. The page contains a series of publications useful for addressing the issue of output identification, measurement and report. UK
Putting the Public First through Performance Management (PDF) Improvement and Development Agency for Local government (IDeA), 2006 A briefing designed to underline the key components of performance management and its effect on increased quality of public services. The document provides a general overview of the subject and addresses the issue of public involvement in the performance management process. UK
Planning and Managing for Results - Guidance for Crown Entities (PDF) New Zealand Treasury and the State Services Commission, 2005 This report provides useful background on the development of performance management theory in New Zealand. It examines the principle of the "management cycle" and its applicability to governmental actions and programs. New Zealand
Public Service Agreements: Managing Data Quality - Compendium Report (PDF) National Audit Office, 2005 This report evaluates the quality of the data recollected by the evaluations systems put in place by UK's Government Departments in accordance to the Public Service Agreements targets. The assessments highlight some deficiencies found and propose some modifications to be made on such systems. UK
Improving Performance Information (PDF) The Public Audit Forum, 2005 Guidelines assigning joint responsibilities between government bodies which specify performance indicators, those accountable for achieving them and those responsible for auditing them. UK
Evaluating Performance in Public Services (PDF) HM Treasury, 2003 This paper sets out the evolution and development of the UK's Public Service Agreement (PSA) framework, from its inception in 1998 through to the current thinking around the development of targets for the 2004 Spending Review. The evaluation tries to cope with the negative drawbacks signalled by some sceptics and underlines the Governments main arguments for defending the value of the PSAs. UK
Guidance on Outcomes Focused Management Learning Paper:Important Lessons Learned (PDF) (PDF) The Pathfinder Project, 2003 Guidance for New Zealand public agencies on integrating outcome information into their decision-making processes. New Zealand
Public services: Meeting the Productivity Challenge (PDF)
HM Treasury, 2003
A discussion document addressing the key performance management challenges and the way they should be addressed by public managers in order to increase the productivity of the public sector. The continued focus on seeking better value for money from public spending is highlighted through the shift of attention from an input oriented system to an output oriented management.
UK
Aiming to Improve: The Principles of Performance Measurement (PDF) Audit Commission, 2003 A guide for public service managers to develop and use effective performance measurement as an important component of their overall performance management, framework. UK
The President's Management Agenda (PDF) US Office of Management and Budget, 2002 A report on the US Executive's key performance indicators for the George W. Bush administration, proposing five government wide initiatives as well as nine program-specific strategies. USA
Choosing the Right Fabric: A Framework for Performance Information (PDF) Her Majesty's Treasury, Cabinet Office, National Audit Office, Audit, 2001 A report which sets out common principles of performance management, information and measurement. UK
All in a Day's Work (PDF) Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), 2001 Briefing note based on information from an IDeA learning day on modernised performance management. UK
Measuring the Performance of Government Departments (PDF) National Audit Office (NAO), 2001 An analysis of performance measurement in UK Government both currently and in recent decades. UK
A Study of the Coordination of Mission, Objectives, and Targets in UK Executive Agencies Hyndman, Noel and Eden, Ron, 2000 Management Accounting Research This paper investigates a model of public sector management based on measurement. Through an empirical analysis of 48 planning documents, it identifies the degree to which the mission statements, objectives and targets in the Corporate and Business Plans of executive agencies are coordinated in a rational manner. The main finding is that although significant gaps exist, the planning documents of executive agencies appear to be more coordinated in terms of their use of objectives and targets than was evident in earlier research in other parts of the public sector. UK
On Target: The Practice of Performance Indicators (PDF) Audit Commission, 2000 A guide to developing a set of balanced and focused performance indicators as part of wider performance measurement and management frameworks. UK
The Use and Operation of Performance Information in Service Level Agreements (PDF) Auditor General, 1999 Evidence-based analysis of whether the performance assessment framework specified in service level agreements enables the adequate assessment of achievements under purchaser/provider arrangements. Australia
Balancing Measures: Best Practices in Performance Management (Web Page) US National Partnership for Reinventing Government, 1999 A report on the balanced scorecard approach to measuring public sector performance researched in the context of the US Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). USA
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (PDF) GPRA US Government, 1993
The GPRA is the central US legislation that mandates the core principles of strategic planning and performance measurement to be attained and reported by Federal agencies. The act contains the principles of performance management in the US Government.
USA