Workshop overview

Over the last decades, public services have been reformed to provide better quality, whilst reducing demands on taxpayers. Concepts once belonging almost exclusively to a private sector environment have been transferred to a public sector context, e.g. economy, efficiency, effectiveness, choice and value-for-money.

The UK’s New Labour administration has put great emphasis on the provision of public services. A number of influential reports, such as the Gershon Review, have been published in this area and have created a lively response from official bodies and the media. The latest Comprehensive Spending Review has also emphasised the need for public sector organisations to achieve efficiency savings in order to effectively deliver the Government’s long term objectives.

Workshop aim

The aim of this workshop is to give an overview of the latest thinking, tools and techniques in performance measurement and improvement. The workshop will draw on current research agendas and practices, and will focus on the opportunities organisations have to achieve efficiency gains, whilst improving the quality of the services they deliver. The involvement of the workforce will be also discussed as a fundamental means to strengthen a culture of performance and to achieve continuous improvement. Throughout the workshop, delegates will have an opportunity to experiment with the latest ideas and see how they can be applied in their own organisations.

• Chief Executives
• Directorate Heads
• HR Managers
• Performance Managers
• Finance Directors and Financial Controllers
• Performance Management, Improvement and Delivery Teams
• Strategy and Policy Planning Units

Day one

1. Performance measurement and management
The workshop will start by providing an overview of how to effectively implement performance measurement and management initiatives, and will suggest ways to successfully utilise information to improve performance.

2. Process management
The management of processes is fundamental if we are to bring about sustainable improvements in performance. In this session we will look at how to best link performance measurement and continuous improvement initiatives.

3. Achieving efficiency gains
Here we will discuss ways to achieve efficiency savings to release resources for front line service delivery. Through the identification of types of ‘waste’, opportunities for reducing costs will be outlined and applied to a number of cases. Several problem-solving tools and techniques will also be presented.

4. Delivering higher quality services
Public sector organisations are increasingly demanded to enhance the quality of the services they provide. In this session we will examine both processes and activities from a ‘customer’ perspective. Moreover, we will investigate ways to build a culture of stopping to fix problems and create value for the customer.

Day two

1. Improving efficiency and quality
This section of the workshop will discuss how organisations can improve both the efficiency and the quality of the services they provide. Firstly, we will identify ways to minimise the ‘costs of quality’, i.e. the costs of avoiding, finding and correcting errors. Secondly, we will consider ways to address the wants and needs of stakeholders through value-added analyses. Finally, we will review different ways of measuring efficiency, quality and productivity, challenging the conclusions of a number of recent influential reports.

2. Setting targets to motivate the workforce
After discussing the concepts of efficiency and quality, the workshop will focus more explicitly on the necessity to have a committed workforce for an organisation to continuously improve. Here we will consider target setting as a means to positively affect behaviours at organisational, team and personal levels. However, having the wrong targets can actually lead to worsening performance, reduce the incentive to improve, and even result in distorted or manipulated results. To better appreciate the concepts being presented the participants will carry out a practical exercise.

3. Establishing a culture of performance
Here we will look at the involvement of the workforce as a fundamental means to strengthen a culture of performance and to achieve continuous improvement. In order to do so, relevant examples for both public and private sector contexts will be presented.

4. Achieving continuous improvement
The workshop will conclude by reviewing the links between policy, strategy, performance measurement and continuous improvement. Also, reflections will be made on key aspects associated with alignment, performance culture and organisational learning.