Building a Better Government Performance System

The reform and enhancement of current performance systems will be integral to the Obama administration’s effort to enact major changes in the federal government and throughout the country. Without a system supported by a variety of stakeholders that has the capacity to identify and then communicate progress on major initiatives and the programs and projects used to enact those initiatives, the broad goals and vision articulated during the 2008 presidential campaign and at the beginning of the administration will fall short.

Government performance systems offer the unique opportunity to involve a variety of players in a conversation about not only priorities, competing expectations and how well government is working, but how to make its programs and services work better, be more equitable and be more responsive to diverse needs. These systems are of paramount importance to improving government, to responding to societal inequities and, perhaps most importantly, to rebuilding our faith in achieving success together through government.

To do this, current performance systems will need to undergo significant reforms to open up internal compliance-based review processes that typically result in static ratings and create a more dynamic conversation about continually improving performance.

Prior to 2008's election, the Accenture Institute for Public Service Value, the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI) and OMB Watch agreed to work together to develop recommendations to the next presidential administration about how best to reform and improve government performance systems. This effort sought to build consensus by bringing together a large group of individuals with a diverse range of opinions and perspectives on past and current government performance measurement initiatives. To do this, we relied on a host of individuals and organizations whose hard work and expertise were essential to making this project a success.

The participants of the project’s day-long workshop provided the practical experience and knowledge base for the content of this report. This project would not have been possible without their participation, energy and dedication to improving the way government works.

The following principles emerged from the Government Performance Project and should guide the Obama administration in its efforts to reform and enhance government performance systems:

• Enhance the public’s right to know how well government programs work.
  
  
• Strengthen leadership and accountability from top to bottom.
  
  
• Modify, don’t replace, current systems.
  
  
• Re-balance the roles of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and federal agencies.
  
  
• Improve performance and accountability with positive reinforcement.
  
  
• Seek input from outside stakeholders.

This report outlines six recommendations that detail reforms and improvements that can be made to current systems used by the U.S. federal government:

• Reforming PART and GPRA.
• Promoting leadership and accountability.
• Fostering policy innovation and ownership with positive reinforcement.
• Balancing the roles of OMB and federal agencies.
• Engaging outside stakeholders.
• Improving data and its accessibility.

No one topic is more or less important than the others, and many overlap and intertwine in a variety of ways. Therefore, a comprehensive overhaul that incorporates changes in each of these areas is crucial to ensuring the creation of a new government performance system is fair, effective and widely used.

Learn more about the Accenture Institute for Public Service Value.