Performance Management Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Performance management is the use of resources to create the environment and the potential to achieve organizational objectives in an efficient manner. Resources may include personnel, finance, and technology for achieving the organization’s goals through strategic planning. The need for good governance, accompanied by outsourcing and privatization, has led the public sector to increasingly demand an emphasis on performance management.

An effective evaluation of performance focuses on results, rather than the traditional focus on productivity. However, in the public sector, where organizations provide services to citizens rather than make a product, it is difficult to measure performance. In public sector organizations, the results may be judged by the quality and the accessibility of the service delivery system, with the goal of performance management in the public sector to provide government services in an efficient manner.

Performance management differs from performance evaluation, in that the latter emphasizes individual performance, rather than the organization as a whole. Performance management, or measurement, requires continuous monitoring of progress through frequent and efficient diagnosis of any shortcomings. Performance management in the public sector involves first determining goals and objectives, and then identifying the measure of performance. Organizations can then assess the following six elements: (1) development potential, (2) performance incentives, (3) performance culture, (4) public values, (5) technological competence, and (6) customer orientation.

To begin, an organization first determines the organizational goals against which performance will be measured. These goals are best identified through full participation of the employees. Although voters’ representatives determine broader public sector goals, respective agencies can set specific goals. Once goals are established, specific measures for evaluating performance are chosen and clearly communicated to the employees. The measures should be achievable based on the available resources.

Addressing areas for potential development includes diagnosing poor performance and steps to eliminate the causes of poor performance through training and other development options. Ideally, there should also be adequate incentives for good performance so that the motivation is continuous. Effective incentives encourage both the individual and the wider organization to achieve the goals set before them.

Organizations can next develop and promote a performance culture so that the employees in the organization socialize into performance management. A successful performance culture in an organization helps to eliminate any possible employee resistance and engenders acceptance of performance measurement.

For optimal performance management, employees in public sector organizations should be aware of the values of public service. These values include accountability, participation, social equity, and efficiency. Transparency, rather than traditional bureaucratic control, ensures accountability. Both vertical and horizontal participation with the stakeholders is also important. Taking account of the strategic plans for recruiting and promoting diverse employees promotes social equity, which can in turn influence improved efficiency for delivering services. Successful performance measurement also addresses adaptation to technology, and how technology, particularly e-government, can make services more effective.

While customers in public sector organizations cannot withhold the services because they are the beneficiaries, the quality of the service delivery is still subject to constant improvement. In order to improve performance, public sector organizations can solicit feedback from the citizens on the services provided. This feedback from the public is a good indicator of performance.

In the face of limited resources, public sector organizations need to constantly improve performance, particularly in times of economic crisis. When jobs are scarce, people demand more justification for each dollar spent by the government, resisting projects that could add to the budget deficit. For example, the Tea Party movement the United States illustrates public resentment against government spending and lack of accountability. Performance management, however, can help legitimate government programs. The critical task for the organization is to develop feasible and reliable methods for performance management. The measures need to correspond to the goals and mission of the organization that are established in the beginning. Through performance management, organizations can improve their responsiveness to the public.

Bibliography:

Ali, Farazmand. Sound Governance: Policy and Administrative Reforms. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2004.
Bresser, Pereira Luis Carlos. Democracy and Public Management Reform: Building the Republican State. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Daley, Dennis M. Strategy and Human Resources Management: People and Performance Management in the Public Sector. New York: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Das, Hari. Performance Management. PH Series in Human Resources Management. Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Stacey, Ralph, and Douglas Griffin. Complexity and Experience of Managing in Public Sector Organizations. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Townley, Barbara, David J. Cooper, and Lesley Oakes. “Performance Measures and the Rationalization of Organizations.” Organizational Studies 24, no. 7 (2003): 1045–1053.

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