Using Best Practices in the Design of a
Performance Management Plan
StatNet Conference
August 20, 2013
EDWARD J. COLLINS CENTER FOR PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
What Are Best Practices?
▸ They represent the service levels that are
achieved by well-managed and high-achieving
municipalities.
▸ They replace the industrial engineering time-andmotion studies that no one does any more.
 Too costly, and no one has time to conduct them
 Eliminates the “Hawthorne Effect”
 They come from industry sources (APWA,
AWWA, etc.) and first-hand observations of
municipalities excelling at the services they
provide.
What Are Best Practices?
▸ They may relate to:
 Response times
 Resource utilization
 Service provision (e.g., provision of master plan,
strategic plan, five-year plans, etc.)
▸ They are NOT:
 Surveys of similar organizations
 Averages of data
 Statements of outputs
Why Use Best Practices?
▸ They reflect the practices and service levels of
well-managed municipalities providing the same
or similar services that you provide in your own
city or town.
▸ They can be useful in developing and refining
your own performance measures.




Establish your own baselines
Compare to best practices
Make alterations in processes
Refine your performance targets
Why Use Best Practices?
▸ They can highlight services that may need to be
altered:
 Is additional training required?
 Is outsourcing the most viable option?
 Should your DPW be “insourcing” more work?
▸ Used in combination, they can highlight staffing or
operational issues:
 Example: 200 VEUs per Mechanic, and vehicle downtime
over 10% points to a staffing issue.
High
Enhance
Keep as Is
Low
Mission Criticality
(Importance)
SERVICE DECISION MAKING MATRIX
Contract or
Eliminate
Reduce
Resources
Low
High
Performance
Examples
▸ Staffing:
▸ 1 Parks Maintenance FTE per 8 to 10 developed
acres
▸ 1 Equipment Mechanic per 90 to 110 Equivalent
Vehicle Units
▸ 4 to 5 traffic engineers per 100,000 population
▸ 1 Facilities Maintenance Technician per 50,000
square feet of maintainable space
Examples
▸ Resource Utilization
▸ Vehicle Maintenance “wrench turning” time should
be 80% to 85% of available hours.
▸ Facilities maintenance technicians should achieve
a 1:1 ratio of preventive to corrective maintenance.
Examples
▸ Response Times
▸ Respond to all reports of potholes within 24 hours
▸ Establishment of priority codes for facilities
maintenance response:
▸ Priority 1: Safety and health. Should respond 95%
of the time within 2 hours.
▸ Plan reviews should be completed by Engineering
staff within 2 weeks of receipt (for first review).
Examples
▸ Service Provision
▸ Replace 1% to 2% of distribution and collection line
annually
▸ Resurface 5% to 8% of paved surfaces annually
▸ Attain APWA certification
▸ Develop and implement five-year strategic plan