The performance management improvement journey

This section is a practical resource to help councils on their performance management improvement journey and includes tools and approaches that councils can use to get on with improvement.

What is the performance management improvement journey?

Improving performance management is no different from trying to improve anything else. Fundamentally, it is about managing change; it needs to be planned, implemented and kept on track in an orderly and efficient way.

This resource is organised along the five stages of the improvement journey, and another page which describes improvement as a journey and helps to bring it all together. A downloadable document bringing together most of the resources will be coming soon. The five stages of the improvement journey are:

• Stage one: taking stock
• Stage two: setting direction
• Stage three: getting started
• Stage four: making it happen
• Stage five: keeping on track

Each stage is supported by its own tips and tools page, with workshops, self-evaluations case studies and a checklist called Done the right things? Avoiding the Pitfalls (pdf file, 5 pages, 110 KB) which can help you make sure you're ready to move on to the next stage.

Why the improvement journey?

The first round of comprehensive performance assessment showed a clear picture of many councils struggling to deliver effective performance management. Two thirds of councils scored either one or two, out of a maximum of four, for the performance management corporate assessment element. This was the weakest scoring corporate assessment theme. Performance management has since been a priority for improvement in many councils.

The revised approach to corporate assessment includes changes to the performance management element. There will be more focus on whether performance management works to deliver better outcomes.

Who is this resource for?

The perfomance management improvement journey is designed for senior managers and will be of use to both corporate and service managers. It includes tools to be used with staff as changes to performance management are planned and implemented.

What is this resource based on?

This resource stems from the work of the Audit Commission and IDeA Performance Management, Measurement and Information (PMMI) project. The paper also draws on material developed jointly by the Audit Commission, IDeA, CIPFA and Employers’ Organisation for the Improvement Network, particularly the Making it happen theme, and on the Audit Commission publication Improvement through better financial management (PDF file, 28 pages, 156 KB).