Utah Elevates Its Performance: Performance Elevated Is a Management Tool for Improving Performance and Efficiency in State Agencies

Boyle, Brenda, Government Finance Review

According to a recent report on state government management, "Utah has been a clear leader in sound government based on smart planning and effective performance management that emphasizes long-term results ... Utah manages all facets of state government well, emphasizing long-term goals and performance outcomes. The executive and legislative branches work together effectively to align expenditures with the strategic direction of the state." (1) Like other state governments, Utah has developed a performance culture that focuses on outcomes and uses tools that allow state's limited resources to be managed more effectively. Such sound management is facilitated by Utah's comprehensive performance measurement and management initiative, Performance Elevated.

Utah's Performance Elevated, which began in 2005 as an executive branch initiative, is a management tool for improving performance and efficiency in state agencies.

The program consists of four central elements for "creating a culture of quality governance"--strategic planning, performance management, collaboration and training, and enterprise innovation. Each element will be addressed in turn below.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

All of Utah's state agencies develop and annually review and revise a strategic plan that answers three critical questions:

1) What is your mission?

2) What is your strategy for accomplishing your mission?

3) How do you know when you are successful?

The strategic plan helps the agency rationalize and justify the performance metrics it is tracking. Each plan contains the following elements:

* Scope statement--an explanation of the role of the strategic plan in managing operations.

* Current environment--an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and a discussion of critical short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term issues.

* Strategic …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Utah Elevates Its Performance: Performance Elevated Is a Management Tool for Improving Performance and Efficiency in State Agencies. Contributors: Boyle, Brenda - Author. Magazine title: Government Finance Review. Volume: 24. Issue: 4 Publication date: August 2008. Page number: 59+. © 1999 Government Finance Officers Association. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.