Managers urged to focus on improving results, not making excuses
Federal managers are bombarded with theories on how to improve agency performance, but become frustrated when they try to apply those practices, according to a new report.
But managers should stop making excuses and persevere in the quest for the highest quality public service at the lowest cost, according to the report, "Start Where You Are, Use What You Have" from the IBM Endowment for the Business of Government.
"There are all these [management] theologies out there," said Chris Wye, author of the report and director of the Center for Improving Government Performance at the National Academy of Public Administration. "But the core concepts are really so simple."
Extensive conversations with managers over the past decade have convinced Wye, who worked as a manager at the Department of Housing and Urban Development before joining NAPA, that the obstacles to measuring results are significant, but not insurmountable. For performance-based management to succeed, managers must use all the tools at their disposal and encourage employees to embrace a results-oriented work environment, the report said.
For example, managers who claim they don't have any data with which to measure results should look for ways to use, modify or add to existing data systems, Wye said. Managers should also avoid becoming bogged down in statistical or empirical methodology. Simple phone calls to a few field offices could help gather useful and valid performance measures, Wye pointed out.
The guide also suggests that managers design "logic models" to help employees see where they fit into the service delivery process. A "logic model" is a flow chart that uses arrows and boxes to illustrate the various parts of a process. The illustration should help employees fully understand their duties, so they can't pass the buck when it comes to meeting goals, according to the report.
Most agency employees "care deeply about public service," Wye said, but many feel "beaten down" by political appointees and need reminders that their work is meaningful. Wye said he hopes the report will "prick the consciences" of civil servants, who are "well-motivated" for the most part.
COMMENTS
- I realize that your article is serious and well meaning. But, as a federal employee with the Defense Department, I simply could not read it without a few chuckles of knowing cynicism. For literally decades there have been calls for improving management and worker performance. There have been all sorts of plans, programs and proposals. But, when it gets right down to business, none of these proposals deal with the reality of the problem: You can't squeeze blood from a turnip and you can't expect improved performance from managers who weren't qualified to begin with. How can anyone expect to “prick the consciences” of federal employees who constantly get dumped on by managers trying to save their own butts? As far as I can tell, the only thing that results from these reports is our bosses telling us to work harder on work that doesn't exist because they don't know how to bring work in. I wish the government would start looking for real solutions and much shorter timetables for implementing them. I will put my neck on the line and say the unsaid: at the Defense Logistics Agency, the efficiency of the work force would improve if at least half of the bosses were paid to go fishing and stay away from work. That is, those bosses who continue to interefere with improvement. Robert Murray Posted June 16, 2003 1:14 PM
