Performance Management

Final Report

Throughout the campaign and transition, one of Mayor-elect Warren’s priorities has been implementing a performance management system for Newton employees. This system will help us track how effectively and efficiently we deliver city services and provide data that we can use to find areas to improve functioning or lower costs. There are several key principles to consider as we put these processes in place.

• The standards we measure against are crucial. In setting the measurements, the mayor should take into account any current measurements already in place, important tasks determined by department heads that are currently unmeasured, and input from the community as to what services are most important and what levels of service are expected by Newton residents.
• In addition to getting community input in the creation of the performance measures, the mayor should ensure that the community is in a continuous conversation about these standards. As performance reports give rise to evaluation of the work and the standards themselves, the mayor should return to the community for further input.
• It will be important to gauge not only the completion of tasks, the timeliness of completion and the quality of the end result, but also the satisfaction of the residents affected by the task.
• After implementation, the mayor must communicate the progress made to the people of Newton. Performance standards and regularly reported results should be made public, available on the website or in city hall. Making the standards public record will increase personal and departmental accountability, and help show the citizens how each department helps the city run.
• Given that many people would be interested in the results, but not enough so to read through every measure, departments should make regular summary reports and the mayor’s office should produce a dashboard synopsis of key results. These should highlight important progress made and present areas for potential improvement in a simple easy uptake format.