ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
You Can’t Manage What You Can’t Message
Robert Behn, Government Executive
Clarifying and repeating the your organization’s purpose keeps everyone focused.
Federal Hiring Freeze Puts Performance Management in the Spotlight
Joe Abusamra, Government Executive
Performance management is more important than ever for federal Human Resources leaders.
Senate Overseer Promises Reforms to Federal Pay, Performance Management and Discipline
Erik Katz, Government Executive
The Senate will push for changes to hiring, training, compensation, performance management, and discipline and separation, according to Sen. James Lankford.

Analytics/Evaluation
Key Findings From 50-State Assessment of Evidence-Based Policymaking
Sara Dube and Darcy White, Route Fifty
In a new report, the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative identifies five states—Washington, Utah, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Oregon—as leaders in this field. These states demonstrated the most frequent, advanced development of processes and tools for using evidence in policy and budget decisions.

Customer Service
State, Interior lead customer satisfaction survey while HHS surges thanks to HealthCare.gov
David Thornton, Federal News Radio
Citizen satisfaction with government services rebounded to a four-year high in 2016, driven largely by improved performances on the part of government websites.

Performance Management
OMB Nominee Needs to Understand Creating a ‘High-Performing’ Workforce Won’t Be Easy
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Rep. Mick Mulvaney wants to do a better job of rewarding top employees and holding poor performers accountable.

Analytics/Evaluation
Moving Toward a Better Future for Measurement
Rhonda Evans, Gabriel Kasper, and Tony Siesfeld, Stanford Social Innovation Review
How can monitoring, evaluation, and learning become even more powerful tools for social sector leaders?

Efficiency/Reorganization
Don’t Look to Trump to Overhaul the Bureaucracy
Paul Light, Government Executive
The real action will be on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Innovation
How agencies can take a page out of industry’s open playbooks
David Egts, Federal Computer Week
To truly innovate, government must holistically consider a combination of people, processes and technology.
Innovation and Scaling for Impact: How Effective Social Enterprises Do It
Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair, Stanford Social Innovation Review
How organizations can more systematically consider the implications of the environments in which they work.

Open Government
What’s Up With the Office of Management and Budget Website?
Frank Konkel, Nextgov
Currently, the integral agency—a repository for memoranda issued by the executive branch—is also without a website.

Performance Management
Memos to the President: How to Run Government Effectively
Paul L. Posner, Janice Lachance, and Donald Kettl, Government Executive
Advice from leading scholars on how to improve government’s ability to deliver on its promises.
OMB Nominee Wants “High-Morale, High-Performance” Federal Workforce
Kellie Lunney, Government Executive
Rep. Mick Mulvaney said he wants to figure out how to better reward top employees and deal with poor performers.
OMB Nominee Would Revive Program Ratings, Fix ‘Broken’ Regulation
Charles Clark, Government Executive
President Trump’s nominee to run OMB expressed enthusiasm for reviving a George W. Bush-era tool for evaluating the effectiveness of federal programs.
Job Performance, Not Tenure, Now Top Consideration for Defense Layoffs
Eric Katz, Government Executive
The Defense Department will lay off civilians primarily on the basis of their performance, according to a new policy, breaking with the rest of federal government that considers tenure foremost.

Analytics/Evaluation
Trump’s Nominee to Lead OMB Wants Better Data
Frank Konkel, Nextgov
Rep. Mick Mulvaney suggested bad data leads to bad policy decisions.
Trump’s pick for OMB sounds enthusiastic about the Data Act
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Rep. Mick Mulvaney stressed the importance of enforcing the DATA Act to both Senate committees he faced as part of his confirmation to lead OMB.

Innovation
Obama codifies PIF program on last morning in office
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
President Obama signed a bill making the Presidential Innovation Fellows program a permanent fixture of government.

Open Government
How Technology Is Giving Town Hall Meetings a Modern Twist
Adam Stone, Government Technology
Municipalities are using the latest communications tools to make government meetings more available to the public.

Performance Management
Obama’s Management Legacy—It’s Complicated
Kellie Lunney, Government Executive
An ambitious effort to improve and elevate government is a case study in the power of bureaucracy to resist change.

Analytics/Evaluation
DATA Act deadline signals need for upgrades
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
While most CFO Act agencies expect to hit the May deadline of the DATA Act, some agencies will need to change their accounting practices and upgrade their systems.
Sen. Warner calls for ‘deliberate speed’ in agencies’ DATA Act rollout
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is doubling down on his concern over some agencies and their efforts to roll out the DATA Act.

Collaboration
Memo to the President: Getting Public-Private Partnership Right
John Donahue, Government Executive
Management really matters for this high-potential but hazardous approach.
A ‘Whole of Government’ Approach to Social Problems
WIlliam D. Eggers, Governing
The success of an intergovernmental, cross-jurisdictional effort to reduce — and end — homelessness among veterans shows the way.

Innovation
How to foster an innovation culture in government
William Eggers, Federal Computer Week
To close the innovation gap between the public and private sector, governments must become applied learning systems that constantly adapt to change.
Freedom to Fail: 4 Takes on Government Innovation Labs
Tam Harbert, Government Technology
Running an innovation lab in the public sector can be a tricky prospect, here’s how four governments are handling the challenge.

Presidential Transition
What Can Those Involved With The Presidential Transition Learn From Mergers and Acquisitions?
Jeff Merrell, Partnership for Public Service
In just a few days, the Trump administration will assume leadership of a $4 trillion annual enterprise comprised of hundreds of agencies, including seven that, in terms of budget, would rank among the 50 largest companies in the Fortune 500.

Performance Management
Memo to the President: Performance Accountability, Evidence and Improvement
Shelley H. Metzenbaum and Robert Shea, Government Executive
Bipartisan reflections and recommendations for the next administration.
The Tricky Psychology of Holding Government Accountable
Julie Beck, Government Executive
Accountability doesn’t always help people make better decisions. When it comes to elected officials, this gets extra challenging.
The Problem With Evidence-Based Government
Mark Funkhouser, Governing
There’s a big challenge that advocates need to recognize.

Collaboration
Civic Collaboration’s Essential Elements
Otis White, Governing
Governments are good at a lot of things, but innovation isn’t one of them. That’s where partners come in.
Let’s Make a Pact: States Increasingly Problem Solve Together
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
They often fall under the radar, but compacts are becoming a top tool for managing interstate issues.

Customer Service
How the Trump Administration Could Advance Customer Service
Stephanie Thum, Government Executive
For those who have been working to make government services more citizen-centric, there’s a tremendous opportunity to advance the customer agenda within government and take it to a higher level.