Utah elevates its performance: performance elevated is a management tool for improving performance and efficiency in state agencies.According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a recent report on state government management, "Utah has been a clear leader in sound government based on smart planning and effective performance management that emphasizes long-term results ... Utah manages all facets of state government well, emphasizing long-term goals Long-term goals Financial goals expected to be accomplished in five years or longer. and performance outcomes. The executive and legislative branches work together effectively to align align (  līn),v to move the teeth into their proper positions to conform to the line of occlusion. expenditures with the strategic direction of the state." (1) Like other state governments, Utah has developed a performance culture that focuses on outcomes and uses tools that allow state's limited resources to be managed more effectively. Such sound management is facilitated by Utah's comprehensive performance measurement and management initiative, Performance Elevated. Utah's Performance Elevated, which began in 2005 as an executive branch initiative, is a management tool for improving performance and efficiency in state agencies. The program consists of four central elements for "creating a culture of quality governance"--strategic planning, performance management, collaboration and training, and enterprise innovation. Each element will be addressed in turn below. STRATEGIC PLANNING Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. All of Utah's state agencies develop and annually review and revise a strategic plan that answers three critical questions: 1) What is your mission? 2) What is your strategy for accomplishing your mission? 3) How do you know when you are successful? The strategic plan helps the agency rationalize ra·tion·al·ize v. 1. To make rational. 2. To devise self-satisfying but false or inconsistent reasons for one's behavior, especially as an unconscious defense mechanism through which irrational acts or feelings are made to appear and justify the performance metrics Performance metrics are measures of an organizations activities and performance. Performance metrics should support a range of stakeholder needs from customers, shareholders to employees [1]. it is tracking. Each plan contains the following elements: * Scope statement--an explanation of the role of the strategic plan in managing operations. * Current environment--an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and a discussion of critical short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term issues. * Strategic focus--the agency's key objectives, with an explanation of how each one is tied to the governor's four broad priority policy areas: economic development, education, quality of life, and governance. * Implementation--description of the process, roles, and responsibilities necessary for carrying out the plan, and how the strategies and key objectives are represented in performance metrics. Agency strategic plans "communicate a cross-boundary vision" that feeds into the statewide long-term planning document, which is called Emerging Issues and Strategies (EIS (1) (Executive Information System) An information system that consolidates and summarizes ongoing transactions within the organization. It provides top management with all the information it requires at all times from internal and external sources. ). With guidance provided by their own strategic plans and the governor's four statewide priorities--education, economic development, quality of life, and governance--agencies develop emerging issues narratives and strategic focuses for each priority area, which are compiled into Utah's full EIS document. The EIS document "provides a framework to assist agencies in identifying enterprise-wide, current and emerging issues, determine priorities and coordinate resources, and most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , assure the effective use of taxpayer dollars." (2) The executive branch uses this information to assess upcoming challenges and to identify the best way of adapting so it can address the challenges. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Utah follows a balanced scorecard Balanced Scorecard A performance metric used in strategic management to identify and improve various internal functions and their resulting external outcomes. The balanced scorecard attempts to measure and provide feedback to organizations in order to assist in implementing approach to performance measurement. All executive agencies develop outcome, output, and efficiency measures which are placed into the balanced scorecard categories of customer, finance, internal process, and learning and growth. Each agency's outputs and outcomes align with its strategic focus, as established in the statewide EIS document. The balanced scorecard initiative is not meant to micromanage micromanage Administration A popular term for excess oversight of lower management by upper management agencies; rather, it is designed as a communication and problem-solving tool. Taking a balanced approach to choosing performance measures ensures that agencies continue to focus on the quality of service rather than only quantity or speed of service. Agencies must articulate the rationale behind each measure and justify performance goals and targets. As performance data is gathered, results are reported on the Performance Elevated Web site; the information on the Web site is updated as frequently as agencies desire, often monthly The Governor's Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) reviews the balanced scorecard measures and performance results with the governor's senior staff on a monthly basis. These reviews facilitate implementation of strategies and course corrections if a negative trend is uncovered. The scorecard provides a high-level snapshot (1) A saved copy of memory including the contents of all memory bytes, hardware registers and status indicators. It is periodically taken in order to restore the system in the event of failure. (2) A saved copy of a file before it is updated. of results for the month, and over time, budget analysts and the governor's staff can identify trends and address any recurring re·cur intr.v. re·curred, re·cur·ring, re·curs 1. To happen, come up, or show up again or repeatedly. 2. To return to one's attention or memory. 3. To return in thought or discourse. issues. For example, if an agency is continually failing to meet certain targets, the budget analyst would contact the agency to discuss the problem and learn the story behind the numbers. If a staffing shortage or weakness exists, the Human Resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. Department might be brought in to help find a solution. In addition to monitoring trends, the monthly meetings help the executive office and the GOPB avoid surprises during budget development, since staff should already know which agencies will need and request more resources. The meetings create an open and ongoing channel of communication and foster a sense of partnership among agencies, the GOPB, and the governor's staff. When agencies communicate their plans and performance metrics, the executive office and the GOPB start to view agency budget requests as strategic investments. COLLABORATION AND TRAINING In addition to promoting Certified See certification. Public Manager training and executive development through the forthcoming Utah Leadership Institute, a major component of collaboration and training is the Performance Elevated meetings. Department leadership meets quarterly with the governor's senior staff, including the budget director, the state planning coordinator, and the deputy chief of staff. These meetings are designed to offer a venue for sharing of information and data about how the activities of Utah's agencies lead to results. Each agency uses this time to present its mission, desired outcomes, and strategies as well as performance metrics, balanced scorecards, and performance results. The meetings also provide an opportunity to discuss expectations, obstacles, and strategies for improvement and problem solving problem solving Process involved in finding a solution to a problem. Many animals routinely solve problems of locomotion, food finding, and shelter through trial and error. . ENTERPRISE INNOVATION The primary component of enterprise innovation in Utah is called enterprise planning, which centers on efficiency and optimization optimization Field of applied mathematics whose principles and methods are used to solve quantitative problems in disciplines including physics, biology, engineering, and economics. of business process at the macro level. "Enterprise planning is based on the core principle that performance must be planned and continuously managed." (3) Strategic planning identifies what will be done in state agencies, while enterprise planning defines how it will be done. Common outcomes of this planning and analysis effort include fewer redundancies, automation of processes, and continual performance monitoring. For example, Utah has separate departments of Administrative Services, Human Resource Management, and Technology Services that maximize efficiencies by offering services to all state agencies so the agencies do not have to support these functions internally. Staff members from these departments are assigned as·sign tr.v. as·signed, as·sign·ing, as·signs 1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection. 2. to each state agency, helping the agencies acquire and recruit the resources needed to meet goals. Consolidation of duplicate DUPLICATE. The double of anything. 2. It is usually applied to agreements, letters, receipts, and the like, when two originals are made of either of them. Each copy has the same effect. operations requires assessing government processes from an enterprise perspective. In Utah, four fundamental governmental service areas (public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. , social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales , regulatory services, and government operations This article aims to describe the financial expenditure associated with the operations and processes of world governments of all levels. Size of economic footprint
Recently, Utah began an innovative approach to implementing enterprise planning initiatives and projects that have an enterprise-wide impact. Rather than delegating these initiatives to an agency (where it might fall through the cracks and not be carried out), the state is contracting with individuals outside of state government to manage both the project and an internal project team. In short, the governor sets the vision, while the third-party champion looks for a solution and carries it out. The third-party project managers are able to work closely with both legislative and executive branches, take ownership of the project, gather stakeholder stakeholder n. a person having in his/her possession (holding) money or property in which he/she has no interest, right or title, awaiting the outcome of a dispute between two or more claimants to the money or property. buy-in, and use an entrepreneurial approach to solving problems and implementing enterprise-wide initiatives. This approach is new in Utah and is currently being used for a small number of initiatives including health-care systems reform, energy efficiency, and automation of the balanced scorecard. A representative from the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget says the state feels like it is on the "right track" with enterprise planning and that the projects underway are going well. (4) RESULTS Performance Elevated has realized a number of notable successes since its inception in 2005. Importantly, performance measurement is becoming a part of Utah's organizational culture  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . . * Once agencies began tracking performance data, they began to recognize areas for improvement. Monthly performance reviews and meetings have uncovered many positive trends. For instance, the state crime lab greatly increased turnaround time (1) In batch processing, the time it takes to receive finished reports after submission of documents or files for processing. In an online environment, turnaround time is the same as response time. on its projects once it began measuring performance. * Agencies have made great strides despite initial reluctance. For example, the Department of Agriculture resisted the balanced scorecard system at first, but it now has a high-quality scorecard that is used for internal management as well as for reporting monthly results to the GOPB and the executive office. The department is constantly raising the bar, tweaking tweaking Vox populi Fine-tuning to produce optimal results measures, and adjusting targets. They "measure like crazy" (5) and have even instituted performance measurement retreats within the department. * Agencies are beginning to voluntarily make improvements to their balanced scorecards and performance measurement methodology, without directive from the GOPB. Furthermore, agencies now share new ideas with the GOPB for refining refining, any of various processes for separating impurities from crude or semifinished materials. It includes the finer processes of metallurgy, the fractional distillation of petroleum into its commercial products, and the purifying of cane, beet, and maple sugar and enhancing Performance Elevated, such as facilitating more frequent performance reviews, developing online tools for performance measurement, and using the balanced scorecard approach for personnel evaluations. * Utah is using Performance Elevated as a way to continue innovating and refining its budget process, moving closer to a more performance-based system. Currently, performance results are taken into account during budget development, and the state is working to incorporate more operational and fiscal transparency (1) The quality of being able to see through a material. The terms transparency and translucency are often used synonymously; however, transparent would technically mean "seeing through clear glass," while translucent would mean "seeing through frosted glass." See alpha blending. into the budget process. CONCLUSION Utah is a large enough state to have resources available for experimenting with new ideas, but it is not so large that these initiatives are unmanageable. In fact, a representative of the GOPB says that recent recognition and awards for its exceptional management give Utah further impetus Impetus is a stimulus or impulse, a moving force that sparks momentum. Impetus may also refer to:
Ultimately, the administration wants all elements of the initiative to become part of organizational culture in a way that will survive through changes in administration. By taking an organic approach and gradually roiling out new components, Performance Elevated will ideally continue to grow and improve over the long term. Notes (1.) PEW Center on the States and Governing Magazine Governing is a national monthly magazine, edited and published since 1987 in Washington, D.C., whose subject area is state and local government in the United States. The magazine covers policy, politics and the management of government enterprises. , Government Performance Project. Grading the States 2008, available at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/PEW_ExecSumm_UT.pdf. (2.) State of Utah, Emerging Issues and Strategies, 2008, available at http://performance.utah.gov/ images/Emerging%20Issues%20and%20Strate gic%20Focus%202008.pdf. (3.) Performance Elevated Web site, available at http://performance.utah.gov/enterprise_plan-ning.shtml. (4.) Personal communication, representative of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, June 4, 2008. (5.) Ibid. (6.) Ibid. Resources for Information Performance Elevated http://performance.utah,gov/index.shtml Governor's Office of Planning & Budget http://governor.state.ut.us/gopb/default.html BRENDA BOYLE is a consultant and policy analyst in the GFOA's Research and Consulting Center in Chicago, Illinois. |
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