Winter 2006
Perspectives is a quarterly publication of ICF Consulting that provides our clients with insights
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and information drawn from the consulting engagements we pursue throughout the world.
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defined. Goals and plans for how to measure achievement however, success in obtaining meaningful performance data
must be identified In this step, outputs and measures are and using this data to manage, and institutionalizing these
defined, and requisite data collection and analysis process- practices so that they become ingrained in the organization
es and procedures are developed and implemented. depends on several factors. The first is the presence of a
Additionally—and most importantly—employees come to culture of accountability within the organization—that is,
understand their individual roles and responsibilities with a transformation of the organizational culture to promote
respect to performance measurement and are given the understanding and support for the organizational mission,
fundamental information, resources, competencies, and as well as for increased accountability and enhanced deci-
motivation to ensure their successful execution. sion-making. In a culture of accountability, leadership
demonstrates commitment to managing for results. In
In the second phase of the performance measurement turn, staff engages and invests in the process, which leads
process—the measurement and analysis phase—data that to feelings of empowerment and continuity.
informs areas of success and challenge for the organiza-
tion are collected and analyzed. Specific elements and fac- Before implementing a performance measurement or man-
tors that contribute to successes or challenges along with agement system, conduct background work to see if other
new and/or modified information needs and lessons pieces of your agency have implemented their own system.
learned are identified. You may be able to begin working with them to align goals,
and they may have lessons learned about performance man-
Once performance data has been collected and analyzed, agement in your agency, including what features may make
it must be effectively managed. The third phase of the the system most user-friendly in your organization. Next,
process—performance management—is the phase in which anticipate and consider the unintended consequences of
solutions to address identified challenges are developed and measuring performance. Reinforced behavior will be repeat-
implemented, along with mechanisms to ensure the contin- ed, so carefully consider what behaviors should be empha-
uation of program or organizational successes. Additionally, sized (e.g., individual achievements versus team achieve-
performance measurement systems and processes may be ments). Finally, communication of performance informa-
modified as needed to ensure that information collected tion among relevant stakeholders is crucial to the success
through the performance measurement process is timely, of any performance measurement or management system.
relevant, and sufficient—steps that cycle back to perform-
ance planning. Unfortunately, many agencies have not While performance measurement is beginning to become
moved beyond collecting performance data to utilizing this more common, very few agencies are actively involved
data to proactively manage the agency. According to the in using that data to proactively manage. In other words,
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), federal performance measurement has not yet become perform-
managers reported having more performance measures in ance management. Careful planning, consistent imple-
2003 than in 1997, but they also reported that use of per- mentation and communication, and working towards a
formance data for program management activities has essen- culture of accountability will help move an organization
tially remained unchanged.3 beyond performance data collection to effective perform-
ance management.
While there are several commonly used methodologies for
performance measurement (e.g., balanced scorecard, logic For more information on ICF Consulting’s performance
model) within a particular human resource organization, management solutions, visit www.icfconsulting.com/
the specific techniques are frequently a function of a num- performance.
ber of contextual factors—some of which are under the
control of human resource managers, and some of which 3
U.S. Government Accountability Office. Managing for Results: Enhancing
Agency Use of Performance Information For Management Decision-Making
are not. Regardless of the particular methodology used, (GAO-05-927). Washington, DC., 2005.
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