Performance Measurement

Overview 

Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting data about the effectiveness of a program or service. Local governments use performance measurement to evaluate the efficiency, equity, and quality of their operations.

 The use of performance measures in local government is driven by increased citizen demands for government accountability, greater interest in using data for program evaluation and resource allocation, and a focus from various organizations and professional associations to make government more results-oriented.

 Performance measurement may help local governments with the following improvements:

• Supporting strategic planning and mission alignment.
• Discovering unidentified patterns and trends.
• Incorporating real-time tracking to improve responsiveness.
• Allowing for predictive modeling and scenario planning.
• Sharing information with the public and officials to improve accountability.
• Identifying priorities.
• Justifying budget requests and allocating resources after determining which activities produce the best outcomes.
• Starting discussions about why outcomes may not be met or identifying what needs to be done for enhancement.
• Motivating departments with appreciation of their performance or encouragement of their improvement.

This page covers the basic concepts of performance measurement and common steps in the process.

Stages of Performance Measurement

© King’s Printer for Ontario, 2021. Updated November 2023. Reproduced with permission.

The Government of Ontario, Canada suggests performance measurement can be broken up into four stages:

1. Prepare for Performance Measures
2. Identify Outcomes
3. Create Performance Measures
4. Collect, Analyze, and Communicate Results

We cover each of these stages below.

#1: Prepare for Performance Measures

This stage involves building a team for the project, identifying stakeholders, and considering baseline factors about the program or service to be evaluated. 

Most performance measurement teams start by collecting information about inputs, defined as resources used for departments, agencies, programs, or services. These might include:

• Program costs
• Number of staff members
• Labor hours

Outputs, in turn, are the results of a department, program, or service. Local governments typically want to make sure they understand how many inputs are required for each output. Examples of outputs may include:

• Clients served
• Calls answered
• Arrests made
• Fires responded to
• Miles of sewer pipe inspected

Next, the performance measurement team should identify the goal or goals of whatever they are measuring. This is the purpose of the measurement project: to determine if the program or service is meeting its objective or objectives.

#2: Identify Outcomes

Identifying meaningful outcomes is the most important component of any performance measurement effort. An outcome measures the quality or effectiveness of a program or service.

Examples of outcomes include:

• A decrease in unemployment rates
• An increase of housing units at fair market rent
• Percent of pavement in good condition
• Number of job trainees retained
• Percent of late bills collected
• Number of fires confined to the room of origin

Some local governments only measure outputs, but this measure alone is less effective in evaluating program quality. For instance, if a city department only measured the number of people hired to mow public lawns (output), they would not be aware of the percentage of lawns mowed completely (outcome). 

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program is one well-known example of a measurement project that used outputs, not outcomes. In the 1980s and 1990s, many public schools across the country implemented the program to warn fifth graders about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The DARE program was deemed successful only because of the number of students who completed the program (output); the outcome – whether the program prevented drug and alcohol use – was not measured.

Unfortunately, the “cool” lessons made students more curious about drugs than they might have been, and in turn, studies showed students involved with DARE were more likely to use drugs and alcohol than their non-participating peers.

DARE demonstrates how though outcomes are usually more difficult to measure, they are more meaningful than simply relying on outputs to determine the effectiveness of a program or service.

#3: Create Performance Measures (KPIs)

The next step in the performance measurement process is identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that help the team assess whether an outcome has been met. Whereas an outcome is the goal of a project or service, a KPI is the metric that tracks the achievement or underachievement of that goal. Tracking outcome achievement may one or more KPIs.

For instance, if a performance outcome were to increase employment by a specific percentage, the team would need to identify KPIs contributing to that outcome (see table below). In this case, KPIs like an increase in continuing education completion and a greater number of human services clients trained for employment served as this outcome's measures.

 Image credit: Adapted from Fairfax County, VA’s “A Guide to Advanced Performance Measurement”

Specific KPIs include:

Efficiency indicators – The ratio of input to output; for instance:

• Cost per counter transaction
• Appraisals per appraiser
• Arrests per officer
• Hours to remedy per complaint
• Cost per mile of road paved

Service quality indicators – Service quality measures can include customer satisfaction, accuracy, or timeliness; for example:

• Errors per data entry operator
• Percentage of satisfied customers
• Average wait time
• Frequency of repeat repairs
• Average response time

Benchmarking

How do local governments know which increases they should aim for? Through benchmarking.

A benchmark is used as a point of reference to determine how effective a project or service is compared to the same project or service in other departments. This is called external benchmarking.

As performance measurements are collected over time, agencies can then compare current benchmarks to benchmarks from previous points in time. These are called internal benchmarks. Internal benchmarks help departments determine if they are maintaining or improving the achievement of their outcomes.

After reviewing benchmarks, teams should then identify the outcomes they want to achieve. The logic model (see figure below) can serve as a roadmap to connect inputs and outputs with outcomes.

© King’s Printer for Ontario, 2021. Updated November 2023. Reproduced with permission.

SMART and SMARTIE Goals

Vague goals hinder the success of performance measurement projects. The SMART model helps performance measurement teams develop more precise outcomes. SMART stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-Bound

 These are some examples of SMART goals.

• SMART: “Reduce invoices not paid within 30 days to less than 150 per month, by the end of the fiscal year.”
• Not SMART: “Reduce the number of unpaid invoices.”
• SMART: “Build relationship with public library to increase shared resources, with a goal of three shared resources by the end of the fiscal year.”
• Not SMART: “Build relationship with public library.”

Recently, two more suggested dimensions have been added to SMART goals, turning them into SMARTIE goals. The “I” and the “E” stand for inclusion and equity and ask goal-setters to consider how equity and inclusion play into their objectives. Considering these factors can also make sure a goal does not create an “unintentional disparate impact.”

 Here is an example of a SMARTIE goal: “Increase percentage of staff with marginalized identities by end of the fiscal year while incorporating regular checks so these staff members are not burdened with a greater share of DEI work.”

Examples of SMART and SMARTIE Goals

• New Hope, MN: Performance Measurement Report & SMART Goals
• Orange County, NC: SMART Goals FY 2022-2023
• The Management Center: From SMART to SMARTIE: How to Embed Inclusion and Equity in Your Goals

#4: Collect, Analyze, and Communicate the Results

Collecting Data

The only way local governments can know if they are meeting outcomes is if they collect KPI data. Some collection methods include:

• Professional or practitioner expertise or rankings (like road crews offering cleanliness scores to streets and roads)
• Pre- and post-assessment checklists
• Customer surveys
• Exit interviews
• Social media tracking
• Mobile applications and sensors

 Data can be tracked using different tools, from the complex to the simple, including:

• Formal data collection systems
• Case management systems
• Spreadsheets

Analyzed data can be shared annually or semi-annually through static performance reports. Often, however, data is continuously-collected and shared on dashboards or performance scorecards.

Take the City of San Francisco’s Performance Scorecards dashboard as an example. Viewers can scan to see red (not meeting target), yellow (needs improvement), and green (on target) metrics for many outcomes and KPIs.

For instance, the public works department set the goal of responding to street and sidewalk cleaning requests within 48 hours 95% of the time. To assess, the department collects information about on-time cleanup and maintains a frequently-updated graph, mapping the achievement of this outcome over time.

Examples of Performance Measurement Websites

• Bellevue Performance Measures Survey – Includes biennial survey results assessing how community members perceive city services.
• Kitsap County Performance Evaluation Across Kitsap (PEAK) Program – Interactive data split into six different categories; includes timelines, graphs, tables and links to find more data.
• New Orleans, LA: NOLAlytics – The Office of Performance and Accountability partners with city departments to help them complete assessment and improvement projects; page includes examples of completed projects.
• Results Washington – Former governor Jay Inslee created the Results Washington dashboard with an executive order; includes five key goal areas to drive public-sector performance management and continuous improvement. 
• San Francisco, CA: Performance Scorecards – Performance Scorecards include metrics assessing whether the city is meeting outcomes set by a number of departments ranging from public safety to economy and finance. 
• Scottsdale, AZ: Community Performance – A performance dashboard that measures, analyzes, and aims to improve city services. 
• Seattle Performance Seattle – Interactive performance system that tracks metrics in six key areas. Begins with a high level but allows users to dig into the data as deep as they want. Data is updated monthly, semi-annually, or annually depending on the data. 
• Spokane County Priority Spokane – Includes the top four priorities set by the county, as well as goals and KPIs across county departments.

Sharing Results and Making Improvements

A performance measurement project is not complete until the results are shared with stakeholders. If an outcome is not met, teams or departments should identify what could be modified to improve. For instance, if a public safety department set a goal of achieving 1,000 spot checks at businesses and apartments each year over three years, but only achieved 900, they may decide to require a certain number of spot checks per employee per day.

Alternatively, the team may need to reconvene to decide if the outcomes or KPIs they set are unrealistic.

Most local governments check in on goal achievement at least once per year. This assures that incremental, measurable steps are taken to improve programs and services. Rather than a one-off task, performance measurement initiatives should be implemented as continuous improvement projects, where departments are always collecting data and using it to maintain or improve performance.

Recommended Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Criteria for Selection of High-Performing Indicators (2014) – Includes a checklist that guides readers through monitoring and evaluating data.
• Government Finance Officers Association: Performance Measures – Includes a focus on budgetary and finance-related performance measurement.
• ICMA: Performance Measurement – Page lists all of ICMA’s performance measurement-related articles, trainings, and related materials.
• National Center for Public Performance – The organization develops research, training, and other materials supporting better performance management for public agencies and nonprofits.
• National League of Cities: Government Performance Measurement Should Focus on What Matters – Discusses the difference between outputs and meaningful outcomes.