High Performing Public Organizations (F-3)
Description
High performing public organizations pay attention to the strategies that influence both their successes and their failures, and build on that information to develop the delivery of public goods and services. Indeed, organizations can learn from their achievements, as much as from their mistakes. Furthermore, they can derive lessons from other organizations in the sector and should seek to do so by taking advantage of several opportunities available for knowledge sharing and knowledge building. Increasingly the scholarship in the field of public administration is recording and analyzing the performance of public organizations with special attention to the strategies associated with the outcomes of public programs.
Several academic journals publish peer reviewed material on improving performance in public organizations. Additionally, there are professional organizations that foster collaboration among scholars and practitioners in the field of public administration. Institutions of further and higher education also include performance management in their curricula. Altogether the result has been that during recent decades a vibrant network has emerged around this important topic. Higher levels of accountability to the public that they serve are expected from public employees, making the achievement of customer satisfaction an absolute priority within public organizations.
Responsiveness is a key factor guiding public service in the twenty-first century. Responsiveness not only to the needs of the citizenry but to the dynamic environment of public organizations. Indicators for assessing public sector performance, therefore, must involve input and output, in terms of cost benefit analysis within the sector. Efficiency is another indicator of high performing public organizations, but emphasis must be placed on the outcomes achieved and their effectiveness. Citizen-driven public performance measurement is an excellent strategy for evaluating public performance, as it entails insight into social expectations and customer satisfaction and facilitates the crucial democratic processes that serve to inform and empower citizens.