Aligning government performance and community outcome measurement: a recent study profiles leading government programs in Washington and Oregon, and offers recommendations for outcome-oriented systems.

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Aligning government performance and community outcome measurement: a recent study profiles leading government programs in Washington and Oregon, and offers recommendations for outcome-oriented systems.

Now, Now, more than ever, strategies for measuring and reporting public sector results are in high demand. Whether working with limited resources or conditions in which the public and legislators are eager to see how public funds are affecting the economy and the well-being of citizens, public managers are charged with the task of showing the results of government efforts. This involves a fundamental shift in the way the public sector does business--in the nature of thinking, acting, and managing that moves away from a focus on process and regulations to a focus on measuring outcomes and showing results.

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While some may assume that current government performance measurement efforts are nimble enough to meet the demands for measuring and showing results, there are some significant challenges. One of the problems associated with measuring outcomes is determining what the desired outcomes of government will look like. What, for example, are the desired results of a school enrichment program or a job training program? It's one thing to count the number of participants and quite another thing to capture the outcome, or impact, the programs had on participants.

Another challenge rests in determining what specifically should be accountable. Is it appropriate to hold public managers and public s...

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