It S Time For High Performance Government

Leadership teams taking the reins of government in 2017 will have to overcome the demoralizing effects of years of budget deficits, a heavy loss of talent, frequent criticism, and mounting pressure to ‘do more with less,’ all of which have contributed to declining interest in public sector careers and deteriorating performance. Over the past twenty years there has been a widening gulf between the “people management” practices in the private and public sectors. Change is badly needed but it does not have to start by canceling existing civil service rules. This book argues for rethinking the way public employees are managed. The changes will contribute to a healthier, more productive work environment that once again enables public agencies to attract and motivate a highly qualified workforce. Written by leading experts with decades of experience as managers and consultants, It's Time for High Performance Government provides executives, managers, and elected officials at all levels practical advice to improve government performance.

The more than three dozen cases presented here will help you understand what high-performance organizations are and develop a clearer understanding of the preconditions to major change, the steps essential to getting started, and ways to overcome common roadblocks. This book details the eight characteristics common to high-performance agencies, illustrating each with concrete examples.

Improving how our government works is urgent business for America. In this book experts from the RAND corporation provide practical ways for government to reorganize and restructure, enhance leadership, and create flexible, performance-driven agencies.

In 2003, the National Commission on the Public Service, chaired by Paul Volcker, issued a report detailing problems within the federal government today and recommending changes in its organization, leadership, and operations. This book suggests practical ways to implement the recommendations and defines a research agenda for the future. Thirteen essays address the primary problem areas identified by the Volcker Commission, and the commission report itself is included.

Stewart Lifflooks at government process as being built around six major systems, separate entities with interdependent needs and purposes. --

A new approach to understanding and improving performance and public value This book presents the Public Service Value Model-an innovative, rigorous approach to defining public outcomes and quantifying results-to help readers understand and improve public service delivery. Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, this guide will arm public service managers-whether in government, nonprofit, or even for-profit organizations-with a practical framework that can be used to define outcomes and manage trade-offs in public service delivery. Martin Cole (Hartford, CT) is Group Chief Executive of Accenture's Government Operating Group. Greg Parston (London, UK) is Executive Director of the Accenture Institute for Public Service Value.

Based on five years of extensive research by the Government Performance Project, this volume offers a comprehensive analysis of how government managers and elected officials use management and management systems to improve performance. Drawing on data from across the nation, it examines the performance of state, county, and city governments between 1997 and 2002 within the framework of basic management systems: financial information, human resources, capital and infrastructure, and results evaluation. Key issues addressed: • How governments strategically select elements of management to emphasize the role of leadership • How those governments that aim to improve performance differ from those that do not • What “effective management” looks like Through this careful, in-depth investigation, the contributors conclude that the most effective governments are not those with the most resources, but those that use the resources available to them most carefully and strategically. In Pursuit of Performance is an invaluable tool for government leaders and the scholars who study them.