Public services and performance management: the High Performance Working Inventory

The advent of performance metrics over the past two decades has heralded a cultural shift in the way public service bodies and institutions have been managed. As a result, all public service provision is now subjected to government led performance indicators, standards of service delivery and practice. At the heart of such mechanisms, aspirations towards excellence within the provision of services sit with strategic leadership and people centered issues. High Performance Working (HPW) is an approach that enshrines the need for organisations to embrace an adaptive strategy in the selection and application of different organisational variables and the people resources they employ; aspirations public sector institutions have had to meet in the face of central government calls for efficiency gains and accountability. The “bundles of practice” that public service organisations choose potentially determine whether they meet the needs of their mission, vision and values in their quest for public accountability. This paper will therefore discuss the issue of performance management and measurement in the public sector. It will then present the HPW Inventory that can be used to assist public sector organisations assess their current performance against core HPW “bundles of practice”.