How to Use Performance Measures and to Convince Public Officials That They Are Indeed Useful?

How to Use Performance Measures and to Convince Public Officials That They Are Indeed Useful?

The use of performance measurement and performance management in the public sector remains a controversial issue. Performance management is about achieving goals and measuring the extent to which these goals have actually been achieved. While the use of performance management in the private sector has increased (see Neely,etal,1997),and there are some staunch advocates for its use(see Broadnax, etal, 2001; Townley, etal, 2003; Behn, 2004) based on the identified benefits of encouraging individuals toachieve pre-set goals(Lohman, 1999), there is still some doubt as to whether the measures are a valid, accurate reflection of the contents of the work. In other words, do they measure what they're intended tomeasure? (See Steers, 1975; Kanter & Brinkerhoff, 1981; Kaplan and Norton 1992; Judge 1994; Guthrie, 1994; Au 1996; Anspach 1991; Guthrie and Parker, 1998; Kluvers, 1998; Young, Oakes and Preston, 1998; Kouzmin, et al, 1999; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2000; Spigelman, 2001; Bovaird & Löffler, 2003; Bevan & Hood, 2006; De Vries, 2010; Halachmi, 2011).