U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Balancing Measures for Managers

In November 2000, OPM issued performance regulations for the Senior Executive Service (SES) requiring agencies to evaluate senior executive performance using measures that balance:

• Business results,
• Customer perspective, and
• Employee perspective.

Because these measures are in executive performance plans, similar measures likely will cascade down to non-SES managers and supervisors. At OPM's 2001 Strategic Compensation Conference, OPM staff presented a workshop titled Balanced Measures for Managers that described how to develop performance plans for non-SES managers that incorporate these balanced measures.

Business Results. Business results are an organization's expected outcomes or end products and services. Business results for managers can range from overall agency outcomes to work group or individual outputs or services, depending on the level of the organization for which the manager is responsible. For example, business results for high-level executives may be program outcomes (e.g., fewer highway deaths or clean water). Business results for a lower-level, non-SES manager or supervisor, however, probably would be group outputs or services (e.g., a new highway that incorporates safety design features or a report that includes accurate water purity data and sound recommendations).

The expected outcomes agencies establish in their strategic plans under the Government Performance and Results Act are their organizational business results. Agencies should cascade these to managers and supervisors. Some examples of business results measures for non-SES managers and supervisors could include:

• For the supervisor of a claims processing unit: The work unit processes at least 220-230 claims per week with an 88-93 percent accuracy rate and taking an average of 90-100 days per claim.
• For an engineering supervisor: 80-90 percent of projects are within plus or minus 10 percent variance of the latest approved budget.
• For a computer systems team leader: New machines include required software and are delivered according to delivery schedule.

Customer Perspective. Customer perspective measures consider the organization's performance through the eyes of its customers, so that the organization retains a careful focus on customer needs and satisfaction. To achieve the best in business performance, agencies must incorporate customer needs and wants and must respond to them as part of their performance planning. To do this, Federal managers and employees must determine who their customers are and what those customers expect from them. For managers of line organizations (i.e., organizations that directly achieve the agency's mission), customers may include a wide variety of public groups, other agencies, other governments, and Congress. [Note: When an agency factors customer feedback into the performance rating process, the appraising official makes the final rating determination, not the customer(s).]

Examples of customer perspective measures for managers of line organizations could include:

• For a park manager: Visitors to the manager's national park had a satisfactory experience during their visit.
• For a nursing supervisor: Most patients on a specific ward in a hospital rate the nursing staff as exceptionally competent and helpful.
• For a policy office supervisor: Agencies respond that the regulations a policy work unit proposed are flexible, easier to read and follow, and take into account agencies' previous comments.

A support organization, such as a human resources office, a building services office, or an acquisitions office, also will have goals and measures, but most of the customers of support organizations will likely be employees who work for the same agency. Examples of customer perspective goals and measures for managers and supervisors of various support organizations could include:

• For a human resources supervisor: Most managers of the agency believe they receive adequate assistance when they call their human resources office.
• For a building services manager: Employees are generally satisfied with the food service provider in their building.
• For a procurement officer: Managers believe that the procurement office provides adequate instruction on new procurement procedures.

Employee Perspective. Employee perspective measures focus attention on essential internal processes that drive the organization, including employee development and retention. This perspective directs attention to the basis of all future success-the organization's people and infrastructure. Adequate investment in these areas is critical to long-term success.

Employee retention is especially critical and is something that managers can significantly affect. Recent studies in several private sector businesses and studies conducted by the Gallup Organization found that poor supervisory behavior was the main reason people leave their jobs. These studies verify that it is not so much opportunities for raises or promotion through the ranks that keep employees happy. The length of an employee's stay is related to the manager's skill at customizing responsibilities, fostering long-term learning opportunities, and pro-viding plenty of informal feedback.

Managers often fear that employee perspective measures include measuring a manager's popularity with employees. The employee perspective factor is not a "popularity contest." Rather, this factor focuses on such things as how managers lead and motivate their employees, address job and training needs, and provide a healthy working environment.

Examples of employee perspective measures include employee perceptions of the level of:

• the recognition employees receive for doing good work;
• the information employees receive from management about what's going on in the organization; and
• the training employees receive for their present jobs and the career development opportunities they have for future jobs.

Balanced measures in managerial performance plans give a more accurate picture of the complete scope of a man-ager's performance. Used wisely, these measures become an excellent tool for monitoring important aspects of manager and work unit performance and can help improve organizational performance overall.

Originally published on Fall 2001