Performance Measurement in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Introduction
Government agencies serve the people of Pennsylvania by providing services, administering programs, enforcing laws and regulations, protecting public resources, and working to improve the quality of life across the Commonwealth. To do this effectively, agencies need to understand what they are accomplishing, how they are using resources, and whether their work is producing results.
Performance management helps agencies:
- Track progress;
- Evaluate results;
- Identify opportunities for improvement; and
- Make better decisions.
The Office of the Budget incorporates performance measures into the annual Governor's Executive Budget to provide a concise view of agency performance and help illustrate the outcomes agencies are working to achieve on behalf of Pennsylvanians.
Note: performance measures are only as reliable as the information used to calculate them. High-quality data, consistent standards, and good information help ensure that performance content is accurate, trustworthy, and useful.
This guide is intended to help agencies:
- Understand the role of performance management in government
- Develop meaningful and reliable performance measures
- Select measures appropriate for inclusion in the Governor's Executive Budget
- Establish and maintain high-quality information and data practices
- Set meaningful performance targets
- Communicate performance information effectively
- Support continuous improvement and better decision-making
What are Performance Measures?
A performance measure is a numerical indicator that helps an organization understand its work and the results it achieves.
Government agencies are responsible for the Commonwealth's most important work and these responsibilities must be carried out effectively.
Performance measures help answer that question and help agencies understand:
- How much work is being performed;
- How efficiently services are being delivered;
- Whether programs are producing the intended results;
- Where improvements may be needed; and
- How their budget is tied to outcomes.
Organizations measure performance for many reasons, most of which fall into four broad categories:
- Accountability - Government agencies are entrusted with public resources and are expected to use those resources effectively and responsibly.
- Better Decision-Making - Every day, agency leaders make decisions about staffing, funding, technology investments, operational priorities, and program management.
- Continuous Improvement - When agencies monitor performance over time, they can identify trends, evaluate changes, and determine whether improvement efforts are achieving the desired results.
- Communication - Performance measures provide a common language for discussing organizational performance. When clearly defined and consistently reported, they help create a more transparent understanding of government programs and services.
How Do Agencies Develop Meaningful Performance Measures?
Developing performance measures is not simply an exercise in collecting data. The goal is to identify measures that provide meaningful information about organizational performance and help answer important questions about the results.
Most programs generate large amounts of information, but not all information is useful.
Many organizations naturally start with what they do. While activities are important, they rarely represent the ultimate purpose of a program or service. For example:
- A workforce development program provides training;
- A transportation agency repairs roads; or
- A licensing agency reviews applications.
These activities are not the reason the program exists. A useful question to ask is: If this program is successful, what will be different? The answer often points toward a meaningful outcome measure.
A logic model can help agencies understand how their work contributes to desired results by connecting resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes. It provides a simple framework for thinking about performance and identifying meaningful measures.
Most programs can be described using four basic components:
- Inputs - The resources used to support a program or service. Examples include funding, staff, equipment, technology, facilities, and information.
- Activities - The actions performed using program resources. Examples include conducting inspections, reviewing applications, delivering training, investigating complaints, maintaining infrastructure, and providing case management services.
- Outputs - The direct products or services produced by program activities. Examples include permits issued, individuals trained, grants awarded, licenses renewed, or miles of roadway resurfaced.
- Outcomes - The results achieved through program activities. Examples include reduced permit processing times, increased employment among training participants, improved compliance with regulations, safer roadways, or improved environmental conditions.
Measure Type | Effective Measures |
Input | Workforce training program funding |
Activity | Total training sessions conducted |
Output | Total participants that completed training |
Outcome | Percentage of graduates retaining employment for 12 months |
Viewed together, these measures tell a more complete story and show the resources invested, the work performed, the services delivered, and the results achieved.
Not every measure provides useful information, but good performance measures share several common characteristics.
- Relevant - A measure should relate directly to the program, service, or outcome being evaluated and it should help answer an important management or policy question.
- Understandable - A reader should be able to understand what is being measured without specialized knowledge of the program. Simple language improves communication and reduces confusion.
- Reliable - A measure should be supported by data that is accurate, consistent, and verifiable. Different people using the same methodology should arrive at the same result.
- Timely - Information should be available frequently enough to support decision-making. Data that arrives long after decisions have been made has limited value.
- Comparable - Measures should support trend analysis so that readers can determine whether performance is improving, declining, or remaining stable over time.
- Cost Effective - The value of a measure should justify the effort required to collect and maintain it. In some cases, a simpler measure may provide more value than a complex measure that requires extensive resources to maintain.
In addition to inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes, agencies may use several other types of measures to understand performance.
Efficiency Measures - Efficiency measures evaluate the relationship between resources used and results achieved. Examples include:
- Cost per permit issued;
- Cost per inspection completed; or
- Average staff hours per case.
Quality Measures - Quality measures assess whether services meet established standards. Examples include:
- Percentage of applications processed without correction; or
- Percentage of inspections completed according to established procedures.
Compliance Measures - Compliance measures assess adherence to laws, regulations, policies, or requirements. Examples include:
- Percentage of regulated entities meeting reporting requirements; or
- Percentage of facilities meeting safety standards.
Satisfaction Measures - Satisfaction measures assess how customers, stakeholders, or the public view a service. Examples include:
- Customer satisfaction survey results; or
- Stakeholder satisfaction ratings.
Equity Measures - Equity measures help organizations understand whether services and outcomes are distributed fairly across populations and communities. Examples include:
- Program participation rates by region; or
- Outcome differences among demographic groups.
Avoid these common mistakes when developing performance measures:
Measuring what is easy instead of what is important – The availability of data should not be the primary reason for selecting a measure.
Creating too many measures – An excessive number of measures can dilute attention and make reporting more difficult. A smaller number of meaningful measures often provides greater value than a large collection of indicators. For example:
- Less useful: Number of training sessions delivered.
- More useful: Percentage of participants employed after completing training.
Both measures may have value, but the second provides greater insight into program effectiveness.
How To Choose Measures for the Governor's Executive Budget?
Agencies often maintain many operational, administrative, and program-level measures to support internal management and oversight and use them to manage programs, monitor operations, evaluate initiatives, and support strategic planning.
Key Takeaway: The objective is not to identify every measure the agency maintains but rather identify the measures that best demonstrate mission achievement, organizational effectiveness, and public value.
While many remain important, some performance measures are designed for internal management and may be too technical, too operational, or too narrowly focused for a broad audience.
Performance measures included in the Executive Budget are reviewed by a diverse audience:
- Office of Budget Operations staff
- Members of the General Assembly
- Members of the public
- Stakeholders
- Agency Leadership
- Legislative Staff
When selecting measures, agencies should focus on the results that matter most rather than the activities required to achieve those results. The strongest Executive Budget measures are directly connected to the agency's mission.
Ask yourself: If this measure improves, does it indicate that the agency is becoming more successful in fulfilling its mission?
Measures that cannot answer this question clearly may be more appropriate for internal management purposes.
For example, a licensing agency may track dozens of operational measures related to application reviews, staffing levels, and workload management. While these measures maybe valuable internally, Executive Budget measures should focus on the outcomes that best reflect the agency's public purpose.
Each type of measure serves a purpose. Input measures help explain resources. Activity measures help describe work performed. Output measures help quantify services delivered. Outcome measures help demonstrate results.
Example: Executive Budget Reporting
Measure Type | Effective Measures |
Input | Total employees assigned to program |
Activity | Total inspections conducted |
Output | Total facilities inspected |
Outcome | Percentage of facilities meeting safety standards |
All four measures may be useful, but for Executive Budget Reporting, outcome measures generally provide the clearest indication of whether the program is achieving its intended purpose.
The Headline Test helps agencies focus on measures that communicate public value rather than administrative activity.
If this measure appeared in a newspaper headline, would a member of the public immediately understand why it matters?
- Stronger Measure - Percentage of Public Water Systems Meeting Drinking Water Standards
- Weaker Measure - Number of Compliance Reviews Conducted
Both measures may be useful, but the first measure more clearly communicates the outcome that citizens care about.
Agencies must decide which indicators best represent their work and communicate the value of the services they provide.
Executive Budget measures should be understandable to individuals who have little or no familiarity with the agency's day-to-day work. A reader should be able to understand:
· What is being measured;
· Why the measure matters; and
· Whether performance is improving, declining, or remaining stable.
Note: the Office of the Budget determines which performance measures are ultimately published in the Governor’s Executive Budget.
- Email your agency’s respective program measure contact to request approval;
- If approved, add program measure to your agency’s respective SharePoint site;
- Include available data in SharePoint;
- Add “N/A” in SharePoint if historical data is not available; and
- Save dataset and continue tracking measure progress while documenting results annually.
How Do Agencies Build a Balanced Measure Portfolio?
No single measure can fully describe agency performance. A strong Executive Budget submission is more than a collection of individual performance measures. It explains how agency measures work together to tell a clear and consistent story about performance.
In most cases, three to seven measures are sufficient.
Each measure should contribute a distinct perspective on the agency's work, highlight the most important aspects of agency performance, and provide a meaningful picture of how the agency fulfills its mission.
- Are we achieving results?
- Are we delivering services effectively?
- What context helps explain performance?
Consider a regulatory agency responsible for licensing and oversight:
Weaker Measures:
- Number of applications received
- Number of licenses issued
- Number of inspections conducted
- Number of investigations completed
- Number of enforcement actions taken
Stronger Measures:
- Percentage of license applications processed within established service standards
- Percentage of regulated entities meeting compliance requirements
- Average number of days required to issue a license
- Percentage of customer inquiries resolved within established timeframes
- Number of regulated entities overseen
Too many measures from one program area - Executive Budget measures should represent agency performance broadly. Selecting multiple measures from a single program may leave important aspects of the agency's mission unrepresented.
Too much focus on workload - Workload measures are often important, but they rarely demonstrate effectiveness on their own. Readers are generally more interested in what was achieved than how busy an organization was.
Measures that compete with one another - Measures should work together to tell a consistent story. If one measure suggests success while another suggests failure, agencies should be prepared to explain the relationship between them.
Measures that require extensive explanation - Executive Budget measures should communicate performance clearly. Measures that require lengthy technical explanations are often better suited for internal reporting.
Reviewing the portfolio as a whole - Before finalizing a submission, agencies should review the entire package and ask:
- Do these measures reflect our mission?
- Do they communicate results that matter to Pennsylvanians?
- Do they provide a balanced view of performance?
- Would a reader understand what our agency is trying to accomplish?
- Do the measures work together to tell a coherent story?
Why is Data the Foundation of Performance Management?
Performance measures allow agencies to understand their work and communicate results. However, performance measures are only as reliable as the information used to calculate them. For this reason, effective performance management depends on effective information management.
Government agencies collect and maintain significant amounts of information that supports:
- Daily operations;
- Regulatory responsibilities; or
- Financial management, public reporting, and policy development.
Like any other asset, information requires management and stewardship. Organizations invest resources to collect, maintain, store, protect, and analyze information because it supports decision-making and helps agencies fulfill their missions.
Data governance refers to the policies, standards, responsibilities, and practices used to manage information throughout its lifecycle.
The purpose of data governance is not to create additional administrative requirements, but to ensure that information remains accurate, accessible, secure, and useful.
Policies and systems alone do not create high-quality information. People do. Every employee who creates, updates, maintains, analyzes, or reports information contributes to data quality. Good stewardship includes:
- Following established standards
- Documenting information clearly
- Maintaining information over time
- Protecting sensitive information
- Correcting errors when they are identified
- Considering how information may be used by others
Strong stewardship creates consistency across programs, offices, and reporting periods. It also helps preserve organizational knowledge and improves confidence in reported information.
Data quality refers to the degree to which information accurately reflects reality and supports its intended purpose. Although quality requirements may vary depending on the use of the information, agencies should generally consider six characteristics when evaluating data quality:
- Accuracy - Accurate information correctly reflects actual events, conditions, transactions, or activities.
- Completeness - Complete information contains the necessary data to support reporting and decision-making.
- Consistency - Information should be collected and recorded using the same definitions and methods across reporting periods and organizational units.
- Timeliness - Information should be available when decisions need to be made.
- Uniqueness - Information should avoid unnecessary duplication and conflicting records.
- Relevance - Information should support a legitimate business purpose and help answer questions.
Together, these characteristics enable agencies to determine whether information can be trusted and whether reported measures accurately reflect performance.
Most organizations accumulate information management challenges over time. Examples include:
Duplicate records | Outdated files |
Inconsistent naming conventions | Missing documentation |
Conflicting definitions | Poorly maintained legacy spreadsheets |
Reducing data debt improves efficiency, increases confidence in reporting, and helps ensure that performance information remains reliable.
Information standards help create consistency across an organization. Standards establish shared expectations such as:
- Definitions;
- Naming conventions;
- Documentation;
- Reporting practices; and
- Data collection methods.
The most effective standards are practical, sustainable, and aligned with actual business practices.
Creating information is only the first step. Information must also be maintained. Data maintenance includes activities such as:
Updating records | Correcting errors |
Removing obsolete information | Managing file structures |
Preserving documentation | Archiving records appropriately |
Many data quality issues occur because information was never reviewed or maintained after it was created. Regular maintenance helps ensure that information remains accurate, accessible, and useful over time.
Agencies are responsible for protecting the information they maintain. Information protection includes safeguarding data from unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, or loss.
Strong security practices help preserve the integrity of performance information and maintain public trust. Every employee who creates, accesses, or manages information contributes to its protection.
How Should Agencies Use Performance Information?
Performance measures create value only when they are used correctly. Collecting data, calculating measures, and publishing reports are important activities, but they are not the ultimate purpose of performance management.
The purpose of performance management is to improve understanding, support decision-making, and help organizations achieve better results. Performance information should help agencies answer questions such as:Ø
- Are we making progress toward our goals?
- Are services being delivered effectively?
- Where are opportunities for improvement?
- What challenges require attention?
- Are we achieving the results we expected?
The answers to these questions give agencies the ability to make better decisions, communicate performance, and continuously improve their work.
Different audiences have different information needs. Agency managers may need detailed operational information to support day-to-day decision-making. Policymakers and the public are often more interested in outcomes and overall performance trends. For this reason, agencies should consider the audience when presenting performance information.
Internal Audiences Focus On:
- Operational performance
- Workload and demand
- Service delivery
- Resource utilization
- Improved opportunities
External Audiences Focus On:
- Results achieved
- Public value
- Agency effectiveness
- Trends over time
- Progress toward goals
Performance measures should support learning and improvement. When reviewing performance information, agencies should ask:
- What happened?
- Why did it happen?
- What can we learn from it?
- What actions should we take?
Measures should encourage inquiry rather than simply judge success or failure. A performance measure that falls short of a target may indicate that conditions have changed, demand has increased, resources are constrained, or processes require adjustment.
Similarly, positive results provide opportunities to identify successful practices that can be sustained or expanded.
Performance management is most effective when it becomes part of a continuous cycle. A simple improvement cycle includes five steps:
- Measure performance;
- Review results;
- Identify opportunities for improvement;
- Implement changes; and
- Evaluate the impact of those changes.
The cycle then begins again. Over time, this process helps organizations strengthen performance, improve service delivery, and better achieve their mission.
Performance management should be viewed as an ongoing management practice that supports learning, adaptation, and improvement, not an annual reporting exercise.
Appendices
A logic model helps agencies connect resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes. Developing a logic model can help identify effective measures and ensure measures are aligned with program goals.
Step 1: Identify the Program or Service - What program, service, or activity are you evaluating?
Step 2: Identify Inputs - What resources support this work? Examples include:
- Funding;
- Staff;
- Technology;
- Facilities; or
- Equipment
Step 3: Identify Activities - What work is performed? Examples include:
- Conduct inspections;
- Deliver training;
- Review applications; or
- Provide services.
Step 4: Identify Outputs - What products or services are delivered? Examples include:
- Permits issued;
- Individuals trained; or
- Inspections completed.
Step 5: Identify Outcomes - What results occur because of the work?
Immediate Outcomes → Intermediate Outcomes → Long-Term Outcomes
Step 6: Identify Potential Performance Measures
Input Measure → Output Measure → Outcome Measure
Key Question: If this measure improves, does it indicate that the program is becoming more successful?
Use this worksheet when evaluating measures for inclusion in the Governor's Executive Budget. For each proposed measure, answer the following questions.
Questions: Yes No
Does the measure align with the agency mission? □ □
Does the measure represent a significant agency responsibility? □ □
Is the measure understandable to a broad audience? □ □
Does the measure communicate public value? □ □
Is the measure focused on results rather than activity alone? □ □
Can performance be tracked over time? □ □
Is the underlying data reliable and verifiable? □ □
Would agency leadership use this measure when
describing organizational success? □ □
Scoring Guidance:
7-8 Yes Responses = Strong candidate for inclusion in the Governor's Executive Budget.
5-6 Yes Responses = Potentially suitable but may benefit from refinement.
0-4 Yes Responses = Likely better suited for internal management or operational reporting.
Before reporting performance information, agencies should verify that the underlying data meets basic quality standards.
Accuracy
□ Data reflects actual conditions or events.
□ Calculations have been validated.
□ Known errors have been corrected.
Completeness
□ Required fields have been populated.
□ Missing information has been addressed.
□ Records are sufficiently complete to support reporting.
Consistency
□ Definitions are applied consistently.
□ Reporting methodologies match prior periods.
□ Similar information is recorded the same way across programs.
Timeliness
□ Data is current.
□ Information is available within established reporting timelines.
Uniqueness
□ Duplicate records have been identified and addressed.
□ One authoritative source exists for reported information.
Relevance
□ Information supports a legitimate business need.
□ Data is directly related to the measure being reported.
Documentation
□ Data source is identified.
□ Calculation methodology is documented.
□ Assumptions and limitations are known.
