Forty percent of federal employees in a recent survey agree or strongly agree that the government has a robust performance management system, compared to 64% of private sector respondents. Somebody needs to point them toward the Baldrige program. We hope that the first federal government organization to win a Baldrige Award, the VA Cooperative Studies Program in 2009, can show its peers how performance management is done.

McKinsey and Government Executive magazine recently surveyed more than 500 federal employees from dozens of agencies about key elements of organizational performance and compared the results to private-sector benchmarks. You can read a summary of the survey here. On the positive side, the survey found that federal employees are more motivated than private-sector employees, better understand the direction their organizations are going, and are more supportive of their organizations’ cultures and values.

As for opportunities for improvement (OFIs):

• 29% agree that they are consulted on issues the affect them (compared to 40% in the private sector)
• 34% agree that they operate in an open and trusting environment (49% in private sector)
• 34% agree that they are encouraged to provide honest feedback to people within the agencies (48% in private sector)
• 29% agree that managers provide helpful coaching to develop senior management capabilities (41% in private sector)
• 22% believe their agencies recruit top talent from outside (32% in private sector)
• 38% agree that their agencies hold challenging reviews to evaluate performance against plans (56% in private sector)
• 55% agree that they have clear explanations of what has to be achieved in their jobs (68% in private sector)

The survey results show a lot of room for improvement, both in the federal government and in the private sector. While the private sector may look good by comparison, the survey suggests that roughly half of the private organizations covered by the survey fail at the basic elements of organizational performance.

The Baldrige model promotes systematic and effective processes in all of these areas:

• A performance management system that supports high-performance work, employee engagement, clear expectations, and reviews of performance to plan
• A culture characterized by open communication and engaged employees
• Work process management that values employee input
• Employee development that includes coaching and mentoring
• Recruiting and retaining people with the skills and competencies the organization needs

As the VA Cooperative Studies Program has demonstrated, a government organization can integrate the Baldrige model to achieve performance excellence in all of these areas.

To learn more, read:

• The U.S. Army and Baldrige
• Serving Citizens Better
• How to Integrate Baldrige
• 10 Critical Questions

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