Performance Management System in Government and Accountability of Public Officers
Public sector organisations have recently been undergoing major reform, given the increasing demands for high-quality services by the public. As such, there is an urgent need to increase accountability, customer orientation and performance of public sector professionals, in order to provide efficient and high-quality services to the public.
While technology is playing a major role in the enhancement of public service delivery, it has given rise to the need for upskilling public sector professionals to make the best use of the technology available. Having a robust performance management system in place helps identify organisation priorities and focus efforts in the right direction, while still emphasizing continuous self-improvement, resulting in increased employee engagement.
Effective performance management helps raise the bar for employees and connects their efforts to personal and organisational success, thus building a strong sense of ownership in the process. Research has proven that a highly engaged, high-performing workforce shows the greatest accountability to its roles and responsibilities as well as organisational growth and development. An engaged, performance-directed workforce spends time on the correct things, rather than focusing efforts on unfruitful aspects.
Building accountability through effective performance management is not as easy as it may seem. Leaders should not just communicate objectives and performance metrics but also help employees meet their performance targets through necessary coaching and mentoring. Regular performance feedback is key. However, there are many challenges that leaders face, including identifying the relevant performance indicators, setting appropriate and realistic targets, linking employee performance to organisational goals and showcasing this for employees to see benefit and feel accountable in their roles, etc.
This is particularly difficult in the public sector because of the multifaceted nature that makes it difficult to define numbers and that comes with many internal and external hindrances to setting up an efficient performance management system, such as nature of workforce, employee resistance to change, political pressure and interference, corruption and workplace politics, etc.
Because of these challenges and more, accountability of public sector professionals, including public financial accountability, becomes questionable as they experience a lack of empowerment in their roles. It is thus extremely important for public sector professionals to understand what is the best form of performance management to be introduced in a particular organisation and how accountability can be improved by tracking performance, among other factors.
This course will empower you with a complete understanding of performance management and appropriate performance management systems. Performance management is diverse and could differ from organisation to organisation because of the nature of workforce, organisation dynamics, organisation goals, etc.
Since it follows the ‘no one size fits all’ concept, it is extremely important that you understand how to choose the best performance management system and process that would provide the maximum benefits to your employees and the organisation, particularly an evident increase in accountability.
With the prolonging issues related to accountability in the public sector, this Performance Management System in Government and Accountability of Public Officers Course will equip you with the necessary strategies and ways to improve accountability across levels within your organisation, thus resulting in better services to the public, satisfied and engaged employees and growth and progress of the organisation.
Organisational Benefits
- Appropriate performance management systems to track performance, identify required training and development and upskill employees to the required standards
- A more equipped, high-performing, highly accountable, engaged workforce
- Highly efficient and good quality services to the public as a result of smarter and more accountable public sector professionals
Greater customer satisfaction from public services - A more performance-driven, customer-oriented, aggressive work culture