Supporting a performance management programme at West Sussex County Council
- OverviewRead more
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) recognised it could improve service delivery if it adopted performance management principles and applied these to all aspects of its work. We worked collaboratively with the Council to create a suite of performance-orientated plans shaped around SMART objectives. We also ensured managers had the necessary training to be able to plan effectively and managed strong stakeholder engagement throughout. We continued to support WSCC as the performance management programme was launched, placing emphasis on the following areas; assisting the programme manager and board with embedding and implementation, supporting the central planning project, and engaging with senior management to ensure the allocation of necessary resources for delivery. We delivered a new way of working to WSCC, the value of our approach has been clearly recognised by allowing performance to be monitored systematically and decisions being based on up-to-date management information.
- Our client's challengeRead more
West Sussex County Council is a 3 Star local authority that recognised that it could improve service delivery if it were to adopt performance management principles and apply these systematically to all aspects of its work.
This involved the creation of a suite of performance-orientated plans shaped around clearly and succinctly defined SMART objectives, each matched by resources and carefully aligned with elected Members' priorities. Mechanisms were required to allow delivery to be managed proactively using monitoring and management information systems linked to objectives at all tiers of management. Management development training was also needed to ensure that managers were able to plan effectively using the new framework and would have the necessary skills to monitor progress and direct activity during the course of delivery in order to ensure that objectives were achieved.
The culture change associated with implementing a new way of managing delivery required strong stakeholder engagement and communications combined with a carefully coordinated management development programme aimed at equipping managers at all levels with the skills and knowledge required to work in a performance orientated way.
- Our responseRead more
Having previously supported the formulation of a performance management framework tailored to the Council's needs, one of our Directors continued to support the Council as the resultant two-year performance management programme was launched. Particular emphasis was placed on three areas:
- Assisting the programme manager and board with the introduction of strong programme governance arrangements, a solid programme structure, and a coordinated approach across the programme's projects.
- Supporting the central project within the programme which is focused on the creation of the operational plans required at both corporate and service levels.
- Engaging with senior management to stress the importance of allocating the necessary resources for delivery, now that the centrality of corporate performance management has been fully recognised.
- The value to our clientRead more
It is too early in the programme for enduring benefits to be claimed, but already the profile of performance management has risen significantly across the Council's managers. There is a new clear recognition of the value of objective-based planning and of the need for management approaches and culture to re-orientate to new ways of working. This, in turn, will allow performance to be monitored systematically and decisions to be taken based on up-to-date management information.
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