"It’s my job to ensure results"

March 3, 2011 By

If you didn’t see this op-ed piece in the March 2 New York Times – “Why Your Boss Is Wrong About You” – it’s worth a look:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/opinion/02culbert.html?emc=eta1

Regardless of your perspective on the questions raised by recent events in Wisconsin, the column makes some excellent points about the power of ensuring employees are focused on results in a clear, fair and systematic manner.

 

The author makes a point that’s very familiar to us: without clear expectations established around results for customers and agreed upon measures for performance, employee performance reviews can stifle, not support, a focus on results and on innovation.

 

 

Under such a system, in which one’s livelihood can be destroyed by a self-serving boss trying to meet a budget or please the higher-ups, what employee would ever speak his mind? What employee would ever say that the boss is wrong, and offer an idea on how something might get done better?

Only an employee looking for trouble.

 

 

We call this the “whack-a-mole” culture. What happens when an employee sticks up their head to point out an issue or to make a suggestion? If they get “whacked” for it, how many times are

they going to do that? Or are they going to (correctly) conclude that, if they want to work in an organization where they can contribute, they need to go elsewhere?


Managers and leaders at all levels have the power to create a work culture that helps employees succeed and that clearly defines success in terms of results delivered for the customer. As the column notes, in such a system:

 

Instead of the bosses merely handing out A’s and C’s, they work to make sure everyone can earn an A. And the word goes out: “No more after-the-fact disappointments. Tell me your problems as they happen; we’re in it together and it’s my job to ensure results.”

 

 

 

Sounds about right to us.

We’ve been sharing rich resources recently to help governments create Employee Performance Management systems that accelerate performance. Check out our previous posts on aligning employees to the organization’s priorities and why managing employee performance matters to your customers. Look for links to our EPM webinar series here as well — coming very soon!
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Introducing Marv Weidner (.com)!

August 26, 2010 By

We’re very pleased to announce the launch of a new set of services for our friends — both old friends as well as the ones we just haven’t met yet — through the launch of MarvWeidner.com.

Marv is the founder and CEO of Weidner, Inc., and in that role has worked with the top leadership of more than 50 governmental entities at all levels — federal, state and local. Marv also has more than 20 years of senior executive experience with the State of Iowa.

From this vast and unique experience, Marv is able to offer unparalleled support to help senior leaders guide change management, to provide executive coaching, and to provide dynamic, expert speeches and presentations on a wide range of topics.

As Marv notes in the”welcome” section of the site, the challenges facing organizations today are extraordinary, and the response they require is not business as usual:

More than at any time in my 30+ years of working for government, appointed and elected officials are looking for answers, advice and perspective to navigate through these times, to make decisions that will have economic, political and organizational implications for years to come.

Check out the site, and let us know what challenge we can help you address!

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Managing For Results: Success in Pinal County, AZ

August 5, 2010 By

Marv, our founder and CEO, sent this dispatch from Arizona –

 

At the annual meeting of the Arizona City/County Managers’ Association (ACMA) in Tucson in late July, I had the privilege of standing with Terry Doolittle, Pinal County Manager and Kent Taylor, Pinal’s MFR Coordinator to present “Managing for Results” to the conference attendees. Terry and Kent made a great presentation on Pinal County’s considerable progress in implementing Managing for Results. I shared an overview of MFR and how to implement MFR in tough times like these – and the value it can bring to help you master the challenges of government today.

Pinal County’s progress is really impressive. Take a look at the presentation (you can download it by clicking here), and I think you will agree! While much of the presentation focused on the changes and improvements in Pinal County’s core management systems, Terry and Kent shared many insights on change management and what has and has not worked to bring greater focus on results for customers.

 

Their presentation was very enlightening for conference attendees who have not yet begun their efforts to manage performance and very helpful to those who have. We are privileged to be Pinal’s MFR partner.

 

Weidner was a Platinum Sponsor of the Conference and looks forward to a long relationship with the ACMA. At our booth, Jeremy Stephens, Weidner’s Lead Software Representative, featured demonstrations of MFR Live and got a great response from city and county managers alike.

 

Also, check out Pinal County’s success with an inclusive approach to strategic planning by clicking here.
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Blast From the Past: "What Gets Measured Sometimes Gets Managed"

July 29, 2010 By
A little light summer reading: as part of the preparatory work for a new Performance Management Advisory Commission, our Chief of Consulting Services and Innovation, William Aaron, wrote a white paper on best practices in performance management in late 2008.

 

That paper turned into an article in Government Finance magazine, the membership publication for the Government Finance Officers Association. The piece contains numerous examples of our customers’ successes using the tools of Managing For Results to deliver improved results and outlines some of the key ideas behind our approach.

 

We’ve consistently gotten good feedback when we’ve shared this piece, and so we thought we’d post it here. You can download the article by clicking here. Let us know what you think!
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Reporting Performance: Is It For "Them" Or For "Us"?

June 25, 2010 By

Thoughts from Jeremy Stephens, our Lead Software Representative and resident Rock Star -

Recently, I spent three years working in performance management for a private sector company. The company was growing rapidly and needed a powerful set of management tools to help it manage that growth. I had the opportunity to help lead that effort, based on my experience having worked in Managing For Results in Metro Nashville/Davidson County, TN.

The company used a powerful software system to handle the collection and reporting of their performance information. Unfortunately, although the software was powerful, it wasn’t very accessible – in fact, to get data out of the system, the company had to hire someone whose only job was to create queries and pull data from the system. If you wanted performance information, many times you had to go and ask for it.

So while the performance information was meaningful and used in high-level management discussions, for most employees it was something “they” — the senior managers and leaders — paid attention to.

Unfortunately, we all know that it is far too common in organizations of all types, private or public sector, that instead of performance data driving decision-making at all levels, the data is closely held, or feared, or ignored.

So how does performance data get a regular seat at the table for how we do business? How does it move from being something “they” use to something “we” need?

What we’ve seen over and over again is that you have to begin by recognizing that data collection and reporting cannot be done in a vacuum. You cannot expect one person, or a small team, to be the only ones involved in collecting, analyzing and reporting the performance data for an organization – and then have those results resonate at all levels of the organization.

How could they? In this situation, for nearly everyone in the organization, performance is something “they” worry about. Most of the team – most of “us” – played no part in the collection and analysis.

In many cases, it simply comes down to the systems and programs. If you manage your performance information using a powerful system with lots of bells and whistles – but which is not easy to use or accessible – the majority of your employees may never know how to utilize or have the desire to try to use the system.

So in the end, it doesn’t necessarily take a village to transform government, but it does take the government as a whole (managers and employees alike) defining, collecting, analyzing, reporting and having conversations about results. You don’t have to do it all at one time, but you do have to do it. Only then can you hope to truly drive meaningful change at all levels. That’s your transformation!

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Seats at the Table: Broad Participation in Strategic Planning

June 8, 2010 By
From Marv, our Founder and CEO –

 

Last year we posted an entry to this blog about our friends in Pinal County, AZ. The County Manager, Terry Doolittle, and the three Pinal County Commissioners had involved all of the County’s elected officials in the development of the County Strategic Plan.

 

At that time, Terry was the only County Manager we had worked with who had successfully involved all of the elected officials in developing the Plan. What we’ve seen most frequently over the years is that the County Commissioners and County Manager would develop the Strategic Plan; this has been a successful strategy in so many places. However, Terry did not want the Strategic Planning process to perpetuate a divide between the Commissioners, the agencies who report to them, and the other elected officials. We were very impressed that Pinal had pulled it off – successfully.

 

Well, now we can add another success story. Jesse Smith, the County Manager in Montrose County, Colorado, has done it as well. He involved not only the three County Commissioners but also the Sheriff, other elected officials AND his department heads in the development of the Strategic Plan. Recently in Montrose, William Aaron, our Chief of Consulting Services and Innovation, and I facilitated the largest group we’ve ever worked with – more than 25 participants – in developing the Montrose County Strategic Plan. The Plan is built on extensive public input gathered in every geographic area of this large western US County, as well as input from all the elected officials and department heads. The Plan includes Issues facing residents, Priorities and measurable Strategic Results.

 

Montrose is set to take the next steps to develop Department Strategic Business Plans aligned to the County Strategic Plan, a Performance-Based Budget, and align Employee Performance to operational and strategic plans.

 

Congratulations to both Montrose County, CO and Pinal County, AZ for successfully involving the public and all elected decision makers in developing their County-wide Strategic Plans. This just may make it on our list of criteria for best managed County governments!
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Managing For Results: Performance Management and Driving Change

April 26, 2010 By

We were pleased to be able to use our April webinar to feature a compelling story of an organization that is using a focus on results for customers to accomplish an amazing turnaround. John Keisler is the Manager of Animal Care Services for the City of Long Beach, CA, and, with his Chief of Operations Michelle Quigley, they shared their success and the valuable lessons they have put to work to make it happen.

 

The principles they shared aren’t unique to the field of Animal Services — they can be used by any team or organization to help drive culture change and improve performance.

 

John has graciously offered to share his webinar presentation as well as some of the internal worksheets they use in the hopes that others can learn from them. We hope you find them useful in your own organization.

 

You can download the powerpoint presentation by clicking here.

 

You can also download samples of their internal reports – the “live release rate” report can be downloaded by clicking here and the “euthanization rate” report can be downloaded by clicking here.

 

Thanks again to John and Michelle for their openness and interest in sharing their success!
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April 14 Webinar: Performance Management and Driving Change

April 8, 2010 By

We love to highlight outstanding leaders who are effectively using the tools of Managing For Results to change their organizations and to deliver better results for customers – and no example is more compelling than Animal Care Services in the City of Long Beach, CA.

Faced with a crisis that had Animal Care Services as a hot topic on the local news, and with staff at a breaking point, new leadership took over and immediately began using performance management tools to turn the organization completely around. Improved results came quickly, and today performance is the best it has ever been (even in a time of funding reductions). Animal Care Services is now recognized as a model, with former critics having become some of the biggest fans and supporters.

This is a success story you won’t want to miss, and the lessons from Long Beach can be used everywhere. We hope you can join us on Wednesday, April 14 at 3 p.m. central time. The webinar will feature John Kiesler, Director, and Michelle Quigley, Chief of Operations for Animal Care Services of the City of Long Beach, CA.

You can sign up for this free webinar by clicking here. Join us then!

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