NCPP

This brief manual is designed to assist local government managers, elected officials and citizens in developing performance measurement systems. The manual explains:*The uses and values of performance measurement systems; *How such a system operates; and *A simple step-by-step process for developing a performance measurement system. This guidebook aims to introduce municipal managers, elected officials and citizens to basic tenets of Performance Measurement. Once in place, Performance Measurement Systems can be used for the appraisal of managers and employees, will help to elaborate and execute strategic plans, and will facilitate citizens' active engagement in visioning the future of their community. Every great endeavor begins with a first step, and very often building a solid Performance Measurement System is the crucial first step that should be taken in order to build a prospering community. Development of a sound Performance Measurement System will take …

Government Performance Results Act of 1993 ---Contents

Concepts Statement No. 2

It begins with a discussion of the governmental environment and the need for performance measurement reporting, explores the dimensions of governmental accountability, sets forth the elements of performance measurement reporting, elaborates the objectives and characteristics of performance information, and discusses the limitations of performance measurement information and how to enhance its usefulness. Finally, the Concepts Statement calls for experimentation with performance measurement and reporting and states that performance measurement reporting is considered an essential part of comprehensive financial reporting for state and local governments.

Concepts Statement No. 2 asserts that information provided by governments should be intended to assist in decision making and to facilitate the process of decision making in the context of the public administration system and budgetary cycle. Therefore, ideally a governmental entity should

Many analytic approaches have been employed over the years by the agencies and others to assess the operations and results of federal programs, policies, activities, and organizations. Periodically, individual audit and evaluation studies are designed to answer specific questions about how well a program is working, and thus such studies may take several forms. The Results Act explicitly recognizes and encourages a complementary role for these types of program assessment: annual performance reports are to include both performance measurement results and program evaluation findings. This document describes and explains the relationship between two common types of systematic program assessments: performance measures and program evaluations…

SERVING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC: BEST PRACTICES IN Performance Measurement (National Performance Review by Al Gore)

All high-performance organizations whether public or private are, and must be, interested in developing and deploying effective performance measurement and performance management systems, since it is only through such systems that they can remain high-performance organizations. When President Clinton signed the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) into law, this commitment to quality was institutionalized. Federal agencies were required to develop strategic plans for how they would deliver high-quality products and services to the American people. Under GPRA, strategic plans are the starting point for each federal agency to (1) establish top-level agency goals and objectives, as well as annual program goals; (2) define how it intends to achieve those goals; and (3) demonstrate how it will measure agency and program performance in achieving those goals. It was also in 1993 that President Clinton and Vice President Gore initiated the National Performance Review (NPR) to reinvent government. One of NPR's reinvention initiatives has been to foster collaborative, systematic benchmarking of best-in-class organizations, both public and private, to identify best practices in a wide range of subjects vital to the success of federal agencies in providing high-quality products and services to our principal customer the American people. ..

**Primer on Performance Measurement

This "primer" defines several performance measurement terms, outlines areas or functions where performance measurement may be difficult, and provides examples of different types of performance measures. In this primer, the definitions of output and outcome measures are those set out in GPRA. Input measures and impact measures are not defined in GPRA. As GPRA is directed at establishing performance goals and targets, the definitions are prospective in nature. Variations or divisions of these definitions can be found in other Federal programs as well as non-Federal measurement taxonomies. For example, a measurement effort which retrospectively reports on performance might define "input" as resources consumed, rather than resources available. The nomenclature of measures cannot be rigidly applied; one agency's output measure (e.g., products produced) could be another agency's input measure (e.g., products received).

REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT COUNCIL ON MANAGING PERFORMANCE IN THE GOVERNMENT

We are pleased to present this Report to the President's Management Council on Managing Performance in the Government. This is in response to your mandate for actions and recommendations to address the issue of employee performance management.Our work group of human resources management executives concluded that a report that could be shared with all Federal agencies would demonstrate top-level commitment to excellent performance. The inclusion of concrete recommendations and information on best practices provides practical assistance for achieving excellence throughout the Federal Government…. These premises and principles are reflected in three major themes. For each theme, this report identifies opportunities and challenges, offers substantiating evidence where appropriate, and makes recommendations for action. Appendices summarize the report's recommendations and offer examples of agency innovations and resources for immediate application to improving performance management in agencies throughout the Government

Give agencies that deliver measurable services a greater degree of autonomy from governmentwide rules in exchange for greater accountability for achieving results. Convert at least a dozen agencies to this new structure in the coming year.

Challenge all agencies to set service goals so everyone in America will see that government service is better. The heads of the 11 agencies with the greatest customer contact are making public commitments to improve selected services; they have created World Wide Web home pages as a means for receiving direct input. The U.S. Business Advisor and a redesign of the "blue pages" in phone directories will help people quickly find needed government services.

EPA and other agencies have successfully piloted a noncoercive partnership approach that focuses on meeting environmental goals rather than on complying with regulatory red tape. Expand existing pilots in EPA, OSHA, and other regulatory agencies so this partnership approach becomes the mainstream strategy for federal regulatory agencies.

Develop federal-state-local partnerships that are based on results rather than process. Develop goals and objectives for major programmatic areas, allow states and localities to be funded for these goals and objectives, and reduce existing federal red tape. Convert categorical grants to partnerships as they come up for reauthorization.

A major challenge for communities dealing with the federal government is untangling the complexity of its programs to determine who is responsible for what. Establish a single point of contact for the nation's larger communities.

The existing civil service system is based on the concept that "one size fits all"; it cannot respond quickly to change or to the varying needs of different organizations. Reform the civil service system, increase investment in the workforce to create "learning organizations," and give senior executives more tools and make them accountable for achieving results.

A Six-Volume Compilation of Tools and Techniques for Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

All high-performance organizations, whether public or private, are, and must be, interested in developing and deploying effective performance measurement and performance management systems, since it is only through such systems that they can remain high-performance organizations. When President Clinton signed the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) into law, this commitment to quality was institutionalized. Federal agencies were required to develop strategic plans for how they would deliver high-quality products and services to the American people. Under GPRA, strategic plans are the starting point for each federal agency to (1) establish top-level agency goals and objectives, as well as annual program goals; (2) define how it intends to achieve those goals; and (3) demonstrate how it will measure agency and program performance in achieving those goals.It follows a logical progression of resources developed to assist in the effective and efficient implementation of GPRA. In chronological order, these resources are…

For every government manager or executive who has struggled with performance planning, here is the first-ever how-to manual to make the process smooth, logical, and easy-to-understand…

In Annual Performance Planning: A Manual for Public Agencies, you are guided through the steps necessary to create outstanding annual performance plans that will result in measurable performance improvement. Annual Performance Planning... Partnership for Reinventing Government consortium studies,

This digest provides senior transit managers with an easy-to-read summary of the contents of and toolsin TCRP Report 88: A Guidebook for Developing a Transit Performance-Measurement System.The guidebook provides a step-by-step process for developing a performance-measurement program that includes both traditional and nontraditional performance indicators that address customer-oriented and community issues.

*A Guide to Developing and Using Performance Measures in Results-based Budgeting

Will Rogers' cynicism about the performance of government still captures a common, if not always constructive, part of public life at the end of the 20th century. And as contract relationships blur the boundaries between the public and private sectors, confidence in private-sector programs has eroded as well, sometimes as guilt by association. The toll is arguably highest among programs that provide health, education, and social services for families and children. If the public is right, if the performance of these programs is not what it should be, then how can we do better? And before we answer that question, how do we know that we are doing badly? How do we know what "better" is? This paper is about answering these common-sense questions. It addresses the art of knowing whether our programs and agencies are succeeding or failing, and how to use performance accountability to improve performance. This paper is part of a series of papers published by The Finance Project on the subject of results accountability. A Strategy Map for Results-based Budgeting addresses what a results-based budgeting system might look like and how to begin to put it in place. This paper addresses the challenge, embedded in the first, of how to hold programs accountable for the best possible performance, while ensuring that their performance is aligned with, and supports, overall efforts to improve results-in other words, how to create performance accountability within a results framework…

The handbook provides in-depth information on the benefits of performance measurement, including the various methods and principles. And it forms a valuable first point of reference; essential before consulting expensive outside consultants. ..Written and research by an expert team of performance measurement specialists, the handbook provides a wealth of techniques that have been tested and applied in over 30 businesses. Our plain English approach makes the handbook ideal for the non-specialist, whether a management accountant, board director or functional head. ..The Handbook of Performance Measurement has been written for anyone who must design, implement or update a performance measurement system. It has everything you need to answer even the toughest questions...

Report on the GASB Citizen Discussion Groups on

Since 1985, the GASB has encouraged experimentation with the use and the reporting of SEA measures. This research report is part of the GASB’s continuing research on the use and reporting of performance measures. This research has included two surveys on the use of performance measures and more than a dozen case studies using information obtained during visits to twenty-six state and local governments in 1999. Our researchers interviewed government officials to determine the depth and breadth of actual use of performance measures by these governments for budgeting, management, and reporting; the effect of their use; and the extent to which governments are

ensuring the relevance and reliability of performance measures. The information gathered from both the citizen discussion groups and the case studies is being used to help develop a set of methods and suggested criteria on how to effectively communicate performance information. Citizen input is a critical building block for the overall success of this effort. The results of these discussion groups have improved our understanding of how state and local governments could develop performance reports that clearly communicate results.

Advice for State and Local Leaders on Implementing Results-Based Decision making

This guide was written with support from the National Governors’ Association. It gives targeted, strategic, and practical advice on implementing different approaches to results-based decision making. It draws on interviews and discussions from over 50 leaders in the field, and provides critical lessons learned for state and local leaders.. It aims to help state and local leaders answer questions such as “should we do this?” “can we do this?” “how do we do this?” “how long will it take?” and “what can we expect?” It discusses using results (and all variations thereof) to develop an agenda to improve the lives of children and families; to align resources to support that agenda; to align management practices and organizational cultures with that agenda; and to measure performance and hold organizations and individuals accountable for improvement. It also provides suggestions for eliciting the support of key stakeholders, such as executive and legislative branch officials, the media, and communities. It goes beyond descriptions of state and local experiences, to draw the political and strategic lessons that can help state and local leaders avoid pitfalls and move ahead…

What is the Government Balanced Scorecard (BSC)?…What’s in it for cities and counties?…What are the pros & cons of the BSC… What is the future of the BSC?… Building a Government Balanced Scorecard… Example of a Government Balanced Scorecard Implementation… Step by Step to Specific Plans

The concept of results-based budgeting is simple and literally business-like: Start with the results we want for children, families, and communities and work backward to the means to achieve those results. But how do we translate this simple concept into practice in the complex environment of public decision-making and budgeting? A growing number of states, counties, cities, and communities are engaged in the work of identifying the results they want for children and families. In some cases, these efforts focus on matters of family and child well-being; in other cases, they concentrate on a more broadly based articulation of the desired quality of life for all citizens. But the challenge in each case is the same: to get from talking about results actually to doing something about them. This paper (and its companions) attempts to answer this central "talk-to-action" question. …

A Guide to Selecting Results and Indicators: Implementing Results-based Budgeting

This paper draws on the experiences of several states, cities, and counties to help guide others through the tasks of identifying results and measurable indicators and tying them to an established planning, budgeting, and management system. It lays out key characteristics of an effective results and indicators list, the important steps in developing this list, and the potential problems that a jurisdiction may face in establishing results and indicators and collecting the data to measure them….

Balancing Measures: Best Practices in Performance Management (National Partnership for Reinventing Government)

In 1994, Vice President Al Gore gave a lecture as part of the Georgetown University Series on Governmental Reform in which he identified the characteristics of "The New Job of the Federal Executive." Among those characteristics were "creating a team environment, empowering employees, putting customers first, and communicating with employees." Those characteristics are embedded in the best practices of our partners-especially in this area of performance measurement. There is no generic set of balanced measures that can be applied as best practice to all functions of the public sector. Certain conditions, however, need to exist within an organization for a balanced approach to performance management to be successful….This study looks at how these efforts relate to, and are being replicated within, the public sector. It examines the ways and means by which government organizations are trying to include customers, stakeholders, and employees in their performance management efforts-to reach some balance among the needs and opinions of these groups along with the achievement of the organization’s stated mission. All of the organizations that served as partners in preparing this report have had some level of success in doing this…

The Logic Model is a framework for planning, managing, measuring and evaluating government programs. Using a goal-measure approach, it illustrates the cause-effect linkages between program activities and outcome results. A Logic Model is developed for each program within an agency, providing measures for use in employee evaluations, IT management, program evaluation, budget justification and contracting. Applying the Logic Model approach to developing performance measures in government is a scaleable process. Instead of implementing the approach agency-wide from the beginning, many agencies start out with a specific program, budget justification, or performance-based contracting challenge.

From this website , Learn step-by-step how to design and implement useful performance measures in government------the Government Performance Logic Model

Improve Public Sector Results with A Balanced Scorecard: Nine Steps to Success

http://www.balancedscorecard.org/files/Improve_Public_Sector_Perf_w_BSC_0203.swf

Describe a framework for building and implementing public-sector balanced scorecard performance systems…basic design for a balanced scorecard performance system … Understand how a scorecard system can help align organization effort with agency mission stratege…share best practices and lessons learned…

The Balanced Scorecard is a performance management system that could be used in any size organization to align vision andmission with customer requirements and day-to-day work, manage and evaluate business strategy, monitor operation efficiency improvements, build organization capacity, and communicate progress to all employees. The scorecard allows us to measure financial and customer results, operations, and organization capacity.

This article discusses how to develop a Balanced Scorecard performance system, explores issues that organizations face in building and implementing scorecard systems, and shares lessons learned from organizations that have taken the Balanced Scorecard journey. Originally developed as a framework to measure private industry non-financial performance, Balanced Scorecard systems are equally applicable to public sector organizations, but only after changes are made to account for the government mission and mandates, not profitability, that are unique to almost all public sector entities… .

This handbook offers three such disciplined, systematic approaches,The first approach, the Performance Measurement Process, was developed by the DOE Nevada Family Quality Forum. This approach is quite detailed and outlines an 11-step process for measuring performance. Appendix B contains a case study that employs this approach. ..The second approach, Developing Performance Indicators . . . A Systematic Approach, was used at Sandia National Laboratories. It is less detail-oriented than the first, and uses a fictitious company, the Hackenstack Firewood Company, for anecdotal purposes. ..The third approach, Developing Performance Metrics-the University of California Approach, was developed by the University of California. This method is broadest in scope. Different organizations have different needs. Providing multiple approaches allows an organization to pick and choose which approach, or combination of approaches, is right for

Achieving Performance Management in Government Agencies---Framework for Devising Performance Measures in City/County Government

The Performance Institute has released the Government Performance Logic Model slide presentation. This step-by-step presentation outlines the Logic Model and how it can be applied to government performance. The 45 slides show how government managers can think strategically and apply performance measures to a specific program, all the way to a 5 or 10 year strategic plan.

This chapter presents sixteen suggested criteria for reporting performance information. These criteria are designed to provide guidance to preparers who want to prepare SEA (or performance) reports that effectively communicate relevant and reliable information to elected officials, citizens, and other users about the results of government programs and services.The sixteen criteria are arranged in three broad categories: (a) the external report on performance information, (b) what performance information to report, and (c) communication of performance information. We recognize that in some cases a criterion could fit in more than one category. The criteria are presented in logical sequence, not in order of importance. A list of the criteria is presented first and then each criterion is separately discussed. This discussion includes:A statement of the criterion ;The purpose of the criterion ;A description of the criterion ;The rationale behind the criterion ;How the criterion can be applied .

Measuring Performance and Demonstrating Results of Information Technology Investments

Increasingly, federal policymakers are insisting that government executives provide hard facts on mission and program results. Program authorizations, resource decisions, and oversight requirements increasingly hinge on how well agencies perform against expectations and improve performance over time. As such, a new standard for management expertise is evolving: setting performance targets, designing efficiency and effectiveness measures, systematically and accurately measuring outcomes, and then using the results for informed decisionmaking. Information technology (IT) products, services, and delivery processes are important resources for results-driven government programs and operations. For purposes of this guide, IT also includes the organizational units and contractors primarily responsible for delivering IT. Line managers—the operational customers2 relying on IT products and services--and IT managers themselves, want to know "How are information technology products and services, including the information infrastructure, supporting the delivery and effectiveness of the enterprise's (agency) programs?" As we pointed out in an earlier report, successful organizations rely heavily on performance measures to operationalize mission goals and objectives, quantify problems, evaluate alternatives, allocate resources, track progress, and learn from mistakes. Operational customers and IT managers in these organizations form partnerships to design, manage, and evaluate IT systems that are critical to achieving improved mission success.

The measurement of performance for crosscutting programs, therefore, falls outside of the GPRA provisions. The problem of illicit drug use is an example The development of a system to manage these programs and monitor performance would require a considerable investment in terms of time and staff resources. In 1996, the ONDCP began its collaborative process to develop a performance measurement system. This ambitious undertaking would require coordinating with the more than 50 agencies and departments involved in drug control efforts. In the end, the process would utilize the input of over 250 people representing numerous government agencies and other organizations. To organize the effort, the ONDCP constructed a complex set of steering committees and working groups designed to address the specific tasks of developing a performance measurement system. From that process would emerge the ONDCP Performance

states occur at the level of the central budget office or on the legislative side.

areas may use them more than others. The purpose of this research is to study performance measurement in state agencies in order to find out which performance measurement techniques are used at the agency level and what social, political and organization (capacity and culture) is related to performance measurement use. Rather than making inter-state or large institution comparisons such as legislative use, the focus of our examination was looking at performance management activities at the agency or department level within each state. Our decision is consistent with Joyce and Sieg (2000) who argued that researchers should consider studying performance-based budgeting by focusing more attention on analysis of agencies or policy areas, and less attention exclusively on centralized institutions.

This handbook is designed for Federal supervisors and employees and presents an eight-step process for developing employee performance plans that are aligned with and support organizational goals. It also provides guidelines for writing performance elements and standards that not only meet regulatory requirements, but also maximize the capability that performance plans have for focusing employee efforts on achieving organizational and group goals. The methods presented here are designed to develop elements and standards that measure employee and work unit accomplishments rather than to develop other measures that are often used in appraising performance, such as measuring behaviors or competencies. Although this handbook includes a discussion of the importance of balancing measures, the main focus presented here is to measure accomplishments. Consequently, much of the information presented in the first five steps of this eightstep process applies when supervisors and employees want to measure results. However, the material presented in Steps 6 through 8 about developing standards, monitoring performance, and checking the performance plan apply to all measurement approaches…

Helpful Practices in Implementing Government Performance
AN OVERVIEW OF HELPFUL PRACTICES

Helpful practices also have the following characteristics: they deal with important and current issues, reflect realistic expectations, provide assistance in the near term, prepare the way for meeting requirements in the longer term, and consider perspectives within and between branches of government.

The papers identify helpful practices for agency leaders in four issue areas selected by Consortium members.

Strategic planning:	include a strategic planning dimension to all aspects of planning and management all the time.
Crossprogram measurement:	begin by developing measures for related programs within agencies before proceeding to other related programs; focus first on goals.
Budget alignment:	take the initiative and make it happen at the civil service level; it should be done, it can be done, and it is being done in a number of agencies.
Administrative support:	take the initiative in developing linkages to strategic planning and management at the organizational, functional, and program levels

Designing a Performance-based Competitive Sourcing Process for the Federal Government

This report presents 37 of the most feasible and often-suggested ideas generated throughout the project. The 37 recommendations require some form of action by federal agencies, the Administration and/or Congress. The 37 recommendations provide for substantial change to the existing competitive sourcing process.

Clearly, the recommendations will not be embraced in full by every stakeholder. However, the package advanced by the project attempts to provide common-ground ideas that on the whole can benefit all stakeholders. Among the recommendations made are…

One of the five government-wide initiatives in the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), Citizen-Centered Electronic Government, focuses on the “use of the Internet to empower citizens, allowing them to request customized information from their government when they need it, not just when the government wants to give it to them.” The PMA calls on agencies to focus their application of information technology on improving agency mission performance, enhancing information security, maintaining information privacy, reducing duplication, and coordinating efforts with other agencies in an integrated manner. Despite the rush to embrace technology in government, significant confusion exists over what precisely defines e-government, let alone how to measure its impact on improving the quality of services to the taxpayer. In selecting performance measures, agencies should focus on the definition of what constitutes a bona fide citizen-centered e-government initiative: “ Citizen-centered e-government initiatives strategically employ information technology to provide government products or services to intended users resulting in enhanced value.” At their most basic level, mission-aligned performance measures are intended to clearly define “enhanced value” by tracking cost efficiencies and improved program mission achievement. The research presented in this report yields insight on the progress being made by federal agencies as they struggle to define and measure their e-government initiatives.

A comprehensive report cataloguing various recruitment initiatives being managed by federal agencies and assessing their relative success in attracting quality employees to federal government service. The project will survey all federal agencies to identify the most innovative recruitment initiatives, examine common lessons learned, review measures of performance, and evaluate overall recruitment success.

The purpose of the Mercatus Center’s assessment of federal agencies’ annual performance reports is to ascertain how well the agency reports inform the public about the results they produced. It is not intended to evaluate the quality of the actual results that federal agencies produced or to determine if the reports adhere to reporting guidelines issued by the Office of Management and Budget. Our focus is entirely on the document’s usefulness to the public and to decision-makers who are not familiar with (and not necessarily interested in) details of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) or agency procedures. The scorecard evaluates agencies’ annual performance reports according to how well they demonstrate: (a) transparency (b) benefits to the community and (c) forward-looking leadership...

GPRA Strategic and Performance Plans for Federal Departments and Agencies in compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 -- as of May 31, 2000.

All links lead directly to the plans. Contact names and numbers are for ordering print versions of the plans unless otherwise noted. Listings with a

next to them are in .pdf or Adobe Acrobat format only.

Department of Commerce

Office of Human Resources Management

…is designed to assist you in effectively managing your employees and your organization. The purpose is not only to outline Departmental policy but also to provide you with a wide array of guidance and information on performance appraisals and awards. As a Department, we are composed of a number of operating units with different missions and goals. The handbook will provide you with the flexibility to develop programs that are appropriate for your unique organizational culture. Performance management is a systematic process by which an agency involves its employees in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of the Agency's mission and strategic goals. Performance management identifies what should be accomplished as well as how these goals will be accomplished. It reflects a partnership in which managers share responsibility for developing their employees in such a way that employees make a contribution to the organization. It is a clearly defined process for managing people that will result in success for both the individual and the organization. It consists of three major components: Appraisal, Feedback and Recognition…

HANDBOOK FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S MIXED ANALYTE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROGRAM

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) currently operates its environmental programs under the jurisdiction of various regulatory agencies. Compliance and quality assurance issues associated with these regulatory authorities typically require analytical services under contract with DOE to participate in a variety of performance evaluation programs (PEPs). The primary objective of the PEPs is to foster reliability and credibility for the analytical results used in the decision making process, particularly as it relates to the environment and public health and safety. Each PEP checks for specific analytical proficiencies in radiological, stable inorganic, or organic analyses.

Regulatory requirements, however, frequently include analyses for radiological and nonradiological constituents of the same sample. A PEP for quantifying these mixed analytes was not previously available. The Analytical Services Division of EM established the MAPEP to address this deficiency and to help assure the quality of analytical services across the DOE Complex…

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT 2000

Performance Improvement 2000: Evaluation Activities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the sixth annual report to Congress summarizing previous fiscal year evaluation efforts. The purpose of this report is to provide Congress with evaluative information on the Department’s programs, policies, activities, and strategies. It contains brief summaries of evaluation results and provides a federal agency contact name for obtaining more detailed information. The report is useful to health and human service researchers, stakeholders and practitioners who use the information to assist their work.

In the era of results-oriented management, evaluations are playing an increasingly important role in program improvement. To this end, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is committed to ensuring its evaluations yield valuable knowledge, and that knowledge is used to improve program performance. This is a consistent theme of our annual reports. Evaluations summarized in this report contribute to program improvement in four ways.

This website offered insight into DOD’s implementation of the PMA. Dr. Chu, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, discussed the DOD’s risks in transformation, as its size and scope is so vast, especially in this time of conflict. In the variety of risks discussed, Dr. Chu spoke about Force Management Risk, which relates to the PMA initiative of Human Capital, and the importance of maintaining a quality military workforce; maintaining workforce satisfaction; and maintaining workforce costs.

Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Urban RC/EZ/EC office created an electronic performance measurement system (PERMS) for Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities to document development activity and funding associated with the projects and programs they are undertaking. Each project and program is represented by an implementation plan in PERMS. RC/EZ/ECs report their progress in a report submitted annually

NASA's performance in developing and delivering products and services are executed and evaluated at multiple levels: Agency, Strategic Enterprise, Functional/Staff Office, program/project, Center, Crosscutting Process, and individual. Each level is responsible for performing the necessary steps of executing requirements, measuring them, evaluating them, and reporting the results. NASA senior managers use Agency measures to evaluate performance in meeting the goals identified in the NASA Strategic Plan. Strategic Enterprise measures must be aligned with Agency measures. The goals and objectives established in the Enterprise Strategic Plans and the Enterprise Associate Administrator Performance Plans must be aligned with the Administrator's Performance Agreement with the President. Similarly, program/project measures must be aligned with program plans, functional measures must be aligned with functional leadership strategies, Functional/Staff Office Associate Administrator Performance Plans must be aligned with that of the Administrator, and on throughout the Agency…

Improvements Needed in Performance Measures to Provide a More Accurate Picture of WIA's Effectiveness

The Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998 to begin unifying a fragmented employment and training system and to better serve job seekers and employers. To create a more comprehensive workforce investment system, WIA requires states and localities to bring together most federally funded employment and training services into a single system, called the one-stop center system. ….1Three of these programs, whose funding is authorized by WIA under Title I to provide services to adults, dislocated workers, and youth, replace those previously funded under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA).These three new WIA programs, authorized at about $3.7 billion in fiscal year 2001, have performance measures established under WIA that states and localities must track in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programs. These performance measures gauge program results in …In an effort to assess the effectiveness of WIA’s performance measures and whether they will yield useful information that can clearly demonstrate performance under WIA, we assessed (1) the progress states and localities have made and the issues they have faced in implementing performance measures for the three WIA-funded programs; (2) how useful the WIA performance measures are in accurately gauging the performance of the three WIA-funded programs; and (3) beyond gauging the performance of the three WIA-funded programs, how well the performance of the one-stop system is being measured…

Assisting Performance Measurement Initiatives in Health and Human Services Programs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has embarked on a process to establish performance measures for all of its health and human service programs. Performance measurement is needed as a management tool to clarify goals, document the contribution toward achieving those goals, and document the benefits received from the investment in each program. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (OASPE), State and Local Initiatives Division, is working with several agencies within the Department to help them develop performance measurement approaches which embrace the following core principles…

EPA Faces Challengesin Developing Results-Oriented Performance Goals and Measures

For over a decade, internal and external studies have called for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to .manage for environmental results. as a way to improve and better account for its performance. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (the Results Act) requires EPA and other federal agencies to prepare performance plans containing annual performance goals and measures to help move them toward managing for results. These performance goals and measures are used to assess an agency.s progress toward achieving the results expected from its major functions. Under the act, a performance goal is a target level of performance expressed as a tangible, measurable objective against which actual achievement can be compared. Performance measures are the yardsticks to assess an agency.s success in meeting its performance goal. EPA.s fiscal year 2000 performance plan contains 187 performance goals and 364 performance measures. Concerned about EPA.s progress in developing goals and measures that focus on environmental results rather EPA.s fiscal year 2000 performance plan contains 187 performance goals and 364 performance measures. Concerned about EPA.s progress in developing goals and measures that focus on environmental results ratherthan on program activities, you asked us to (1) determine the extent to which EPA.s fiscal year 2000 performance goals and measures focus on end outcomes, intermediate outcomes, or outputs; (2) identify any challenges the agency faces in developing additional performance goals and measures that focus on end outcomes; and (3) describe the initiatives the agency is taking to address any identified challenges

It is indeed a pleasure to present GAO’s performance and accountability report for fiscal 2002. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, thisannual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf.Importantly, we received a clean opinion from independent auditors on our financial statements for the16th consecutive year. I am confident that thefinancial information and the data measuring GAO’s performance contained in this report are complete and reliable....We use seven annual measures to help assess GAO’s performance in meeting our strategic goals and objectives for serving the Congress. They showthe degree to which our work is benefiting the Congressand the American people and whether GAO is laying a foundation for future benefits by providing the Congress with the most imminent and high-profile information it requests, developing ways to improve government, and tracking whether those improvements are made. In fiscal 2002, GAO exceeded the performance targets for six of these seven annual measures. We also use an eighth, biennial, indicator that tracks our progress on work we laid out under performance goals in our strategic plan. This indicator shows we are on track for meeting 95 percent of our performance goals by the end of fiscal 2003...

The Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS) Performance Measurement Database provides a compilation of techniques that have been proven effective for use in human factor research related to air traffic control. The FAA has established strategic goals of improved ATC system safety and capacity. Performance measures are necessary to determine which elements of the system need to be changed in order to attain these goals, and to determine when progress has been achieved. The primary goal is to develop a comprehensive set of ATCS performance measures that relate to ATC system safety and capacity. The development of this database is one of several objectives required to achieve this goal.This database represents an important tool for selecting appropriate performance measures that can be used for evaluation of NAS operations concepts, procedures, and new equipment. This database is intended to facilitate measurement of the impact of new concepts on controller performance. Using standard database techniques, a researcher can search the database to select measures appropriate to the experimental questions under study...