The first step in building alignment is to establish clear measureable organizational goals that are linked to business strategy. These goals must then be made visible throughout the organization.

For many of the municipalities that participate in the Ontario Municipal CAO’s Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI), goals are publically available on their website. Members of this initiative have made a commitment to share operational best practices and performance statistics and to embrace continuous improvement and strive towards service excellence. Tracked measures relate to the following four categories: “service level, efficiency, and customer service and community impact.” The sharing of information through benchmarking allows participating municipalities to clarify areas in which they excel or need to improve. This exchange of information also facilitates learning and exposure to new ideas.

The OMBI website contains information about the structure of the program and may be worth a visit for those of you who have an interest in benchmarking, just as the municipality websites can provide ideas related to identifying and writing performance measures. A U.S. based example of a well established performance measurement program can be found on the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission website. Specific goals can be found in the latest performance report under performance measures.

Do you know of any other helpful resources related to benchmarking?

References:

International City/County Management Association. Performance Management: When Results Matter. ICMA.

Ontario Municipal CAO’s Benchmarking Initiative. 2006 Performance Benchmarking Report. Thorold, ON: OMBI, 2006.

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Performance and Accountability Report-Fiscal Year 2007 (NUREG-1542, Vol. 13). January 10, 2008.