Performance Management Systems in the Public Sector Module1

Summary

This module provides an introduction to performance management in the public sector, focusing on understanding its importance due to the public sector being a major spender, employer, and service provider. It covers the concepts of accountability and the principal-agent theory, highlighting the need for alignment of goals, monitoring, and evaluation. Various types of accountability, including political, legal, administrative, and professional, are discussed to ensure responsible governance. The module emphasizes the systematic process of setting goals, measuring performance, and using this data for continuous improvement to promote public interest and enhance governmental effectiveness.

Highlights

• The public sector's significant role as a spender and employer necessitates strong performance management 🔄
• Principal-Agent Theory highlights the need for alignment and accountability in public sector operations 🔍
• Different accountability types ensure responsible public sector governance and performance 🗳️
• Performance management processes include goal setting, performance measurement, and continuous improvement 📈
• High performing public sector entities lead to quality government policies and improved societal results 🌟

Key Takeaways

• Understanding of the public sector's role as a major spender, employer, and service provider is crucial for effective performance management 🏛️
• The Principal-Agent Theory explains the importance of aligning goals between the government (agents) and citizens (principals) 🤝
• Accountability in various forms (political, legal, social) ensures that public servants perform ethically and efficiently 🕵️‍♂️
• Performance management involves setting goals, measuring outcomes, and continuously improving processes 🚀
• Effective performance management in the public sector leads to better societal outcomes and enhanced public trust 🌍

Overview

Performance management in the public sector is a fundamental practice due to the sector's extensive role in spending, employment, and service provision. This module outlines the foundational concepts, starting with the importance of accountability and efficiency. Understanding these elements helps in aligning public interests with government activities, ensuring that resources are used wisely and effectively.

Central to the discussion is the Principal-Agent Theory, where the government acts as an agent on behalf of the citizens, or principals. This relationship requires robust systems to align goals, monitor actions, and ensure transparency and accountability. Various forms of accountability, such as political and legal, play a key role in maintaining trust and effective governance.

The module further delves into the practical aspects of performance management, highlighting steps like goal setting, performance evaluation, and the use of performance data for decision-making. The outcome is improved public sector productivity, which directly contributes to better public services and societal welfare, enhancing both economic and social development.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Overview The chapter introduces the e-course on Performance Management in the public sector, led by Magdalena Mendoza, Peter Dan Bon, and Monica Sandres, in collaboration with the APO Center of Excellence on public sector productivity at the Development Academy of the Philippines. The course is designed to provide a fundamental understanding of new concepts, principles, and values related to performance management in the public sector.
• 01:00 - 10:00: Module 1: Performance Management and Productivity Module 1 introduces the concept of Performance Management in the public sector, discussing different models and their applications. It aims to provide an understanding of the effectiveness of these systems in practice. This module is one of five in the course, with subsequent modules covering principles, models, and practical applications.
• 10:00 - 16:30: Accountability in the Public Sector The chapter discusses important concepts related to accountability in the public sector, specifically focusing on performance and performance management. It covers the evaluation of performance, including citizen-driven performance measurement, highlighting the relevance of accountability. The chapter is divided into several modules, beginning with an introduction to public sector performance and various related concepts. Overall, the chapter emphasizes the importance of effective performance management practices in ensuring accountability within the public sector.
• 16:30 - 25:00: Understanding Performance and Performance Management The chapter discusses the importance of performance management in the public sector, highlighting three main reasons: 1) The public sector is the largest spender of public resources, primarily funded by taxes. 2) It is one of the largest employers in the economy. 3) It is a major provider of essential services, impacting the cost of doing business and societal well-being. Understanding these factors is crucial for enhancing public sector performance.

Performance Management Systems in the Public Sector Module1 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to this self-learning eour on Performance Management in the public sector I am Magdalena Mendoza together with Peter Dan Bon and Monica sandres this ecourse was produced in collaboration with the APO Center of Excellence on public sector productivity at the development Academy of the Philippines the course aims to provide a basic understanding of the emerging Concepts principles and values for
• 00:30 - 01:00 Performance Management in the public sector learn about different models and applications of Performance Management systems and understand the effectiveness of Performance Management in practice the course is divided into five modules module one is about Performance Management and productivity module two we'll talk about principles and models of Performance Management module three performance Management in practice
• 01:00 - 01:30 module four evaluating performance and module five citizen driven performance measurement let's start with module one this module will cover the topics such as the the public sector and its performance the concept of accountability definition performance Performance Management and performance measurement Performance Management in the public sector is very important for
• 01:30 - 02:00 three reasons first the public sector is the biggest spender of public resources which is mostly tax money second the public sector is one of the big employers if not the biggest employer in the economy and thirdly the public sector is often the major provider of essential services that affect the cost of doing business and overall well-being of the society po performance of the
• 02:00 - 02:30 public sector could indicate corruption low productivity and weak governance we all know the tenet that public office is a public trust public trust has two requirements first the duty to protect public interest and second the obligation to refrain from using public office for private gain the principal agent Theory can further
• 02:30 - 03:00 explain this concept according to this Theory the citizens are the principals who delegate authority to the government or agents the citizens delegate their sovereignty by electing representatives and compensating the government by paying taxes citizens in turn expect the government to act on their behalf with a accountability and
• 03:00 - 03:30 transparency public sector organizations must perform accordingly related to this theory is the principal agent problem because of information is symmetry and possible Divergence of goals the principls and agents or organizations and individuals may not always share the same goals in information asymmetry is also a
• 03:30 - 04:00 given since agents have more expertise and control over detailed operations giving them an advantage over the principals who often rely on their uh activities for implementation and enforcement of policies in order to perform all of its functions it is natural that the government delegate the authority
• 04:00 - 04:30 given to them by the citizens to government agencies who in turn hire civil servants the public sector must therefore coordinate the activities of all its constituent parts or agents in order to succeed in promoting public interest as Illustrated the principal or P employs an agent or a to provide a service service to a client denoted as C
• 04:30 - 05:00 the agent has discretion over the service and that agent may use the discretion in an illicit manner for personal gain also information about what the agent and the client do is asymmetric it is also expensive on the part of the principal to overcome this asymmetry
• 05:00 - 05:30 when the agent's action cannot be observed directly by the principal or where the outcome is affected by such action the problem lies in ensuring that the agent will promote the interest of the principal the principal's problem arises when the principal has poor knowledge about the agent's type also poor information about the agents and
• 05:30 - 06:00 the clients's activities which are either productive or corrupt the agent has incentives to mislead the principal into thinking that he or she is working only on productive activities and never on corrupt ones what can be done the principal can set the rules and incentives to ensure alignment of goals Monitor and evaluate performance and collect information information
• 06:00 - 06:30 about the activities of both the agent and the [Music] client let's now talk about accountability as agents the public sector must regularly account performance while in office and be accountable to the principals accountability here is the obligation to provide information explanations or justifications to a superior Authority for decision and actions and it also
• 06:30 - 07:00 includes accepting some responsibility for failure or incompetence there are several types of accountability political which applies to government who are accountable to the citizens for the authority granted to them legal accountability which is based on specific responsibilities like observance of laws and legal standards
• 07:00 - 07:30 administrative which refers to Independent administrative and financial supervision and control such as audit professional accountability which refers to the observance of codes and standards for acceptable practice of profession and social accountability which means accounting performance to civic interest groups and the public at large we can also look at accountability at different levels
• 07:30 - 08:00 policy which is accountability of elected officials for selection or non selection of certain policies program which is the accountability of the heads of Ministries for the achievement of expected outcomes and also Effectiveness performance which is the accountability of organizations and delivery units for the achievement of efficiency economy in the execution of
• 08:00 - 08:30 programs process which is the accountability of process owners for the adequacy of procedures to implement and produce outputs and probity which involves individual compliance with laws and regulations and establish legal and ethical standards Performance Management is crucial to ensure accountability in the public sector Performance Management is
• 08:30 - 09:00 a means to emphasize the accomplishment of obligations in the delivery of commitments the use of public resources disposal of powers execution of functions and the conduct of civil servants and public institutions now go to topic number three what about performance performance is defined as the action or the process of care carrying out or accomplishing an
• 09:00 - 09:30 activity task or function and how successfully it was done based on this we can view performance in terms of the following performance as action performance as competence and performance as results in short performance could be taken to mean the capacity to perform a task or function and convert this capacity into quality achievements and
• 09:30 - 10:00 sustainable results what about Performance Management it is a process of goal setting and agreeing upon performance levels measuring monitoring evaluating reporting and holding to account an organization unit or individual on its accomplishments and non accomplishments towards predetermined
• 10:00 - 10:30 goals Performance Management is also referred to as a type of management that incorporates and uses performance information for policym decision making and Improvement at the organizational level Performance Management can be considered as a process of identifying measuring and enhancing performance of individuals and teams in an organization
• 10:30 - 11:00 it refers to an ongoing process of goal setting measuring monitoring and Reporting program level or organizational accomplishments toward predetermined goals in other words it involves agreeing upon performance levels and measuring progress toward them using performance data to improve performance whose performance are we interested into per performance can be
• 11:00 - 11:30 discussed at different levels what you see on the screen is the T performance from highest to lowest the macro level that covers the performance of the country the policy sector organizational level performance performance of a delivery unit down to the performance of an individual we can manage performance by observing this process which starts with Goal set setting planning and designing
• 11:30 - 12:00 for implementation monitoring the execution and performance evaluation and Improvement the first step involves formulating strategic objectives selecting performance indicators and setting performance targets the Second Step means designing the service delivery system designating responsibility planning human and financial resources and preparing the monitoring and evaluation plans
• 12:00 - 12:30 monitoring the execution is the third stage and it involves the actual performance monitoring to a certain progress and address problems if any the last stage is performance evaluation reporting recognition and performance Improvement at a glance the process appears familiar since it is akin to strategic management or the pdca management cycle except that performance
• 12:30 - 13:00 monitoring performance evaluation the use of performance information and performance improvements are made explicit throughout the process there has to be a system of performance measurement which is a proactive Gathering of performance data analysis to generate performance information for use of management Performance Management is is necessary to monitor on a regular BAS basis the accomplishments for better
• 13:00 - 13:30 management and control performance measurement consists of systematic activities to quantify performance obtain and analyze performance data and produce performance information for management control and decision making it also refers to methods to monitor accomplishments on a regular basis to gauge incremental progress of indicators from base lines to targets and to check and correct
• 13:30 - 14:00 problems to bring performance back on course performance measurement involves defining what to measure formulating indicators collecting performance data analyzing performance data and Reporting performance information for use of management as we conclude module one let me summarize the key points first
• 14:00 - 14:30 productive performance of the public sector is very important being a big spender a big employer and key provider of essential Public Services since this affects societal outcomes second a basic precept of the principal agent theory is that the government must coordinate the activities of its constituent parts or agents that is the or organizations programs and individuals in order to
• 14:30 - 15:00 promote public interest and must ensure that the public sector account its performance thirdly Performance Management is a means to emphasize accomplishment of obligations in the delivery of commitments use of public resources disposal of powers execution of functions and conduct of civil servants and public institutions finally a high performing public sector
• 15:00 - 15:30 organization improves the efficiency Effectiveness and quality of government policies and services and promotes better economic and social development outcomes