More with less - why Covalent Performance Management is the key to public sector operational efficiency

Non newsflash: In today’s economic climate, public sector organisations are facing unprecedented pressure not only to achieve the goals set by government and meet the expectations of citizens – but to do so amidst severe budget deficits and job cuts.

The harsh reality is that the entire public sector is under genuine and increasing pressure to deliver more for less.  Another reality is that “salami slicing” budget cuts and headcount reductions are often crude solutions that ultimately do not work.  There is also a feeling that, with regard to the much mooted efficiency savings identified by political parties and government advisory bodies, the “low hanging fruit” has all been grabbed already.  There needs to be another way, a better way to do more with less.

“Slash and burn” versus better Performance Management

That way is dramatic improvements in performance management.  Effective performance management, embedded across the whole organisation in an integrated  and sustained way can help public sector organisations overcome these challenges and deliver more with less.

Good performance management is fundamental to public sector organisations’ success in delivering required outcomes for those they serve. To deliver the vision that achieves the objectives, it is critical to keep track of  progress. It is important that organisations are able to determine whether they are delivering the outcomes necessary and whether in doing so they are providing value for money.

Organisations use a range of performance measures including performance indicators and progress against key projects to measure current performance and monitor ongoing performance. This allows them to see whether performance is strong and improving over time. It also allows them to effectively prioritise activity and determine whether they are making improvements in the key areas prioritised. In turn, this enables an understanding of the extent to which they are delivering upon their vision and the extent to which they are able to do so with the resources available and against the strategies and plans in place. Where the public sector is concerned, performance management matters now more than ever.

Covalent, the market leading solution for the public sector, is being used by some 170 UK public sector organisations to improve their performance management (Local Authorities, NHS Trusts, Social Housing providers, Further Education organisations, Emergency services and other public bodies). 

These organisations recognise that in order to efficiently and effectively deliver value to the people they serve - citizens, taxpayers, service users and consumers, they need to align and focus resources and behaviour to provide the necessary outcomes to the public, their ultimate customers.  Covalent Performance Management helps organisations to better deliver these outcomes.

Ask yourself a few questions - would your organisation benefit from a tool that...

• Drives greater efficiency and value for money by focusing effort and resources on the social outcomes that matter to citizens, government and other stakeholders?
• Ensures coherence between strategic objectives and operational plans, through the cascading of objectives and measures, ensuring that limited resources are focused on those activities that will make the most difference?
• Enables it to execute its strategies by facilitating improved and timelier decision-making, based on accurate and meaningful performance information?
• Helps to control costs by clearly aligning budgets not only to activities, but also to outcomes?
• Promotes greater efficiencies by increasing service performance levels, reducing waste and minimising risk of non-delivery?

For more information on how Covalent Performance Management can help your organisation do more with less, please click here.