North Ayrshire Council

Performance

Management Strategy

July 2016 Update

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Contents

1. Foreword ................................................................................................................ 3

2. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3

3. What is performance management? ...................................................................... 4

3.1 Why is it important to North Ayrshire Council? .................................................. 4

4. Embedding a performance management culture ................................................... 5

5. What does effective performance management look like? ..................................... 6

5.1 Golden Thread .................................................................................................. 7

Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) ......................................................................... 7

Council Plan ............................................................................................................ 8

Directorate Plans .................................................................................................... 9

Operational Plans ................................................................................................... 9

PPDs ....................................................................................................................... 9

National Performance Management Framework ................................................... 10

5.2. Performance Management cycle ................................................................... 10

5.3 Performance Measurement ............................................................................. 11

Targets .................................................................................................................. 11

Covalent ................................................................................................................ 12

5.4 Roles and responsibilities ............................................................................... 12

6. Reporting .............................................................................................................. 13

6.1 Public Performance Reporting ........................................................................ 13

7. Benchmarking ...................................................................................................... 14

8. Self–assessment and evaluation .......................................................................... 15

9. External Assessment and Accreditation ............................................................... 16

10. External Audits and Inspections ......................................................................... 17

Appendices .............................................................................................................. 18

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1. Foreword

Welcome to our Performance Management Strategy. All of our staff show a real

commitment to continuous improvement and quality. Staff are reporting that they feel

more engaged and motivated. We are now regarded as a Good Council – one which

is progressive, forward thinking, innovative and performance driven. We want however

to be recognised as a Great Council – one which is widely known as a top performer

with sector leading practice.

The Performance Management Strategy provides the strategic focus and the

framework for our continuous improvement journey. I look forward to continuing to

work with you all in achieving our ambition to be a Great Council.

Elma Murray

2. Introduction

Our Performance Management Strategy sets out our vision of where we want to be – we want to be recognised internally and externally as a great Council. Great means ‘stepping up’ performance in everything we do, focussing relentlessly on what our customers and communities need and delivering that effectively, efficiently and creatively – and doing that in every area of our work. Great will see our staff appreciated, recognised by our customers and partners, and respected by our peers. We will be seen as an employer of choice.

O u r J o u r n e y f r o m G o o d t o G r e a t

In June 2014 the council launched North Ayrshire Council – Our Journey from Good to Great highlighting some of the key pieces of work in our Change and Transformation Programme since 2010. As well as highlighting past achievements, the Journey from Good to Great also includes a snap-shot of our Future Work Programme.

Our Journey from Good to Great focuses on five themes:

Communities

Places

Partnerships

Processes

People

What will our Great Council look like?

We will have a clear vision for the delivery of key priorities

We will be an employer of choice

We will be proud of our excellent performance

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We will be able to demonstrate exceptional customer service

We will work beyond boundaries with our communities and partners

We will be recognised as one of the top performing Councils in Scotland

and leaders in best practice.

In 2011 the Council agreed the performance management vision that ‘by 2014, the Council will have sector-leading performance management systems and a supporting culture in place’

In 2012 the Performance Management Strategy was revised to ensure that embedding a performance management culture was central to the Strategy. Additional principles were added to reflect the focus on culture. In 2012 the Council was awarded the Committed to Excellence award from Quality Scotland and in 2015 was awarded Recognised for Excellence (3 star accreditation).

Evidence from our internal reporting, from our public performance reports and from external scrutiny bodies confirms that the Council is clearly focusing on and improving its performance management and continuous improvement arrangements.

3. What is performance management?

“Managing performance is essentially about planning what an organisation wants to

achieve, doing the work, reviewing what has been done and assessing whether it has

the desired impact”.

“Performance management involves gathering, analysing and acting on performance

information to improve services and the quality of people’s lives in the local community.

Managing performance is a continuous part of the day-to-day role of Councilors and

all staff”.

Source: Audit Scotland, 2012

3.1 Why is it important to North Ayrshire Council?

The focus of performance management is about how we consistently plan and manage improvements to our services. In simple terms, performance management enables key decision makers, both members and officers, to take action based on facts about performance.

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Good performance management offers the Council many benefits including:

supporting the Council’s wider vision for North Ayrshire driving continuous improvement helping to clarify objectives helping the measurement of objectives and outcomes promoting accountability and transparency enhancing governance enabling best value to be demonstrated instilling confidence in employees, service-users and scrutineers protecting and enhancing the reputation of the Council

4. Embedding a performance management culture

In successful organisations, a culture of performance management runs throughout everything the organisation does and it is clear how everyone in the organisation contributes to the overall objectives and priorities.

‘Local commitment to driving future improvement will only be achieved if council

employees understand what they should be doing, how they should be doing it and

how what they are doing contributes to the achievement of corporate objectives’.

Source: IDeA – Performance Management, the People Dimension

Everyone in the Council has a part to play in improving our services and achieving our strategic objectives. All of us need to understand the principles of performance management and how they are applied in North Ayrshire.

The Council’s Organisational Development Strategy seeks to engage, support, empower and encourage innovation throughout our workforce leading to a change in organisational style and culture. The Strategy recognises the connection between people management and organisational effectiveness to deliver high performance results and ensures maximum contribution towards the strategic direction of the Council by:

Supporting the implementation of the Performance Management Strategy

Developing a culture of learning, performance and continuous improvement

Embedding the PPD procedures to ensure the golden thread is visible from

high level objectives to those of individual employees

Providing access to learning and development opportunities to enable the

achievement of potential

The Performance Management Strategy’s core principles reinforce the desired

culture:

We are risk aware, not risk averse.

Innovation and creativity are expected.

Success is acknowledged, shared and celebrated.

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Getting it wrong is regarded as an opportunity for improvement.

Constructive challenge (up, down and across the council) is encouraged

Benchmarking is systematically undertaken to identify and implement improvement.

The ‘culture’ aspect has been addressed on a number of fronts, including our commitment to the good to great journey. Investment in our three tier leadership programme has developed a strong and capable leadership equipped with the right skills and knowledge to lead our Council into the future. We have invested in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) training for a number of managers and staff. LSS is a quality improvement methodology resulting from the combination of the individual Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. In short it offers a set of techniques and tools to improve processes and remove waste. The techniques and tools will support our Transformation Programme and help us on our journey from good to great.

The launch of our staff values in 2014 sum up everything we do and how we do it. They are the foundation that our work is built on, and they are used to measure how well we do each day.

Focus we put our customers first

we understand the bigger picture

Passion we take pride in the jobs we do

we are ambitious for our community

Inspiration we all look for better ways to deliver our services

we achieve the best results by working together

In 2013 a Performance Management Forum (PMF) was established to support the Performance Management Strategy vision. The focus and membership of the Forum was reviewed in March 2016. The Forum is chaired by a Senior Manager (Democratic Services) and members include the Senior Managers (Performance) from all Directorates. The key role of the PMF is to embed a high performance culture in North Ayrshire Council and progress and monitor the implementation of the Performance Management Strategy through the PMF Work Plan.

5. What does effective performance management look like?

An ideal performance management framework should drive performance by defining relevant performance measures at multiple levels of the organisation’s hierarchy. Data should be aligned with Strategy and should drive organisational activity by identifying where activity needs to be changed.

A good performance management framework has clear links across an organisation from individual employee performance through to council wide and partnership performance. A Performance Management Diagram is attached at Appendix One.

Our framework has four parts:

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Golden Thread – how plans fit together

Performance Management cycle – what happens, when and how

Performance Measurement

Roles and Responsibilities

5.1 Golden Thread

North Ayrshire Council’s Framework includes the strategies, plans, indicators, targets and standards that enable the performance of the Council to be monitored to ensure the best possible outcomes for our customers, residents and communities. The golden thread shows how our plans fit together and how this thread runs through them, connecting the strategic objectives of the Council and our partners with the actions of managers and staff at Directorate, Operational, Team and individual level. As well as the Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) and Council Plan there are also strategies that support effective governance, the efficient management of resources and the development of a performance management culture e.g. Financial Strategy, IT Strategy.

Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) The SOA is an agreement between the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) and the Scottish Government. It describes how we and our partners will work together to deliver improved outcomes for people in North Ayrshire and the CPP vision – North Ayrshire – A Better Life. The CPP’s priorities are to create:

a Working North Ayrshire

a Healthy and Active North Ayrshire

a Safe and Secure North Ayrshire

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Council Plan The North Ayrshire Council Plan 2015/20 describes our aims and ambitions for the next 5 years as we work toward our Vision: To be a leading organisation defined by excellent and innovative services As a Council we will aim to realise this vision through our Mission: ‘To improve the lives of North Ayrshire people and develop stronger communities.’ The Council Plan describes how we will deliver our SOA commitments, as well as our own priorities. The Council Plan outlines the transformational change required within the Council to deliver better services, address the challenges of an increasing older population and to manage a reduction in public sector funding. The vision for North Ayrshire links to our five strategic priorities:

Growing our economy, increasing employment and regenerating towns

Working together to develop stronger communities

Ensuring people have the right skills for learning, life and work

Supporting all of our people to stay safe, healthy and active

Protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations

North Ayrshire -A Better

Life

A Working North

Ayrshire

A Healthy and Active

North Ayrshire

A Safe and Secure North

Ayrshire

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Directorate Plans

Directorate Plans are an integral part of effective performance management. They outline how each Directorate will deliver on the Council Plan and reflect our vision. An effective Directorate Plan forms a vital part of the golden thread, so all Directorates, services/teams and in turn all employees are fully aware as to how they contribute and are responsible for achieving the Council’s strategic priorities. To support the service planning process and enhance governance arrangements the Council’s budget process and risk management framework is embedded within Directorate Plans as it is critical to the decision making process.

Operational Plans

To strengthen the Council’s Performance Management Framework services are required to develop Operational and Team Plans to demonstrate that there is a clear ‘golden thread’ leading from the Directorate Plans through Operational and Team Plans to an employee’s Performance and Personal Development. (PPDs). The Operational and Team Plans provide a key document for staff in preparing their PPDs to ensure that their PPD objectives align with the objectives and actions of the Directorate and/ or Service.

PPDs

All employees within the Council should be working towards the aims and priorities of the Council, as detailed within the Community Planning Partnership’s (CPP) Single Outcome Agreement, the Council Plan, and filtered down through to Directorate, Operational and Team Plans.

To be a leading organisation

defined by excellent and

innovative services

Growing our economy, increasing

employment and regenerating

towns

Working together to develop stronger

communities

Supporting all of our people to stay safe, healthy and

active

Ensuring people have the right

skills for learning, life and work

Protecting and enhancing the

environment for future generations

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Depending on the PPD process this will either include team objectives which you should contribute to, or individual objectives / key areas of work specifically relating to your role. The purpose of setting objectives is to provide clear direction on what needs to be achieved and how this links into the Team/Directorate plan and ultimately the performance of North Ayrshire Council.

National Performance Management Framework

Our performance framework supports the National Performance Management Framework to which all public services in Scotland are aligned, encouraging more effective partnership working. It is a framework based on delivering outcomes that improve the quality of life for people in Scotland, rather than on inputs and outputs.

Further information on the National Framework can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Performance/scotPerforms

5.2. Performance Management cycle

Performance management is an ongoing process involving a number of stages. The plan-do-study-act cycle shows how we continuously review our performance in order to improve our services.

Plan Stage Think about where we are now and what we want to achieve. Our Council Plan identifies the Council’s vision and strategic direction. Identify and prioritise what needs to be done, agree actions, budgets and appropriate measures and targets. Performance management information allows us to identify opportunities and plan for change.

Do Stage

Plan

Do

Study

Act

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Deliver the actions laid out in the various plans. Performance information allows us to ensure resources are in the right place to achieve results. There are a range of methods and tools used to enable us to manage our performance. These include Covalent, the Council’s online performance management system, benchmarking tools such as the Local Government Benchmark Framework and Service Standards. Study Stage Review and monitor how we are performing against targets and benchmarks so that we can continuously improve our services to local people. Identify what worked well and what could be improved. A wide range of performance information is made available through reports to Committee and our public website. We may need to revise plans and measures if they are no longer relevant. Act Stage Having reviewed our performance we identify what is working and what needs to change. Our service planning process allows us to identify and act on our areas for improvement and incorporate them into future planning.

5.3 Performance Measurement

Accurate, high quality, timely and comprehensive performance data at all levels of the

organisation is essential to the effectiveness of our improvement journey. Performance

measures are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that the data collected is useful

in terms of being able to measure performance and delivery against key priorities and

outcomes.

Good performance measures are SMART:

Specific - performance measures have to indicate exactly what result is

expected so that the performance can be judged accurately.

Measurable - the intended result has to be something that can be measured

and reported in quantitative and/or clear qualitative terms.

Achievable – performance measures are realistic

Relevant – performance measures matter to the intended audience and relate

to the service being measured

Timely- information is available to support effective decision making as well as

allowing for the reporting of performance in a timely manner

Targets

Setting targets allow us to work towards improving our services. Targets should be

based on past, current performance and comparisons with other services/councils so

that they contribute to improved performance. Targets can:

Promote accountability

Help manage a service

Stretch performance

Enable self- improvement

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Covalent

All performance data is reported via Covalent, the Council’s online performance

management system. Covalent allows us to effectively analyse data, track progress of

indicators and actions and to provide and communicate regular and robust

performance information to Managers and Elected Members. Performance can be

monitored in a range of frequencies e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually. The system also

means that all data is stored in the one place. Ongoing development of Covalent is

supported by the Covalent Development Group comprising of the Directorate

Performance Officers and Covalent Champions.

5.4 Roles and responsibilities

Within Directorates and Services, Managers monitor performance on a regular basis and at an appropriate level. Performance data is used to identify where performance is not on target and take remedial action to improve performance. Performance monitoring helps to identify improvement and improvement opportunities. Monitoring also helps to facilitate benchmarking against industry best practice.

The Executive Leadership Team and Cabinet monitor performance on a six monthly basis.

Roles and Responsibilities – who does what

Individuals All staff have a responsibility to deliver the tasks that have been agreed in their PPDs and understand how their work contributes to the overall strategic objectives.

Team Leaders Responsible for delivering Team Plans, monitoring and managing performance against targets and supporting staff to deliver their objectives.

Senior Managers Responsible for setting objectives and targets, monitoring and managing performance against targets and contributing to the Council’s priorities.

Heads of Service Responsible for the delivery of the Directorate Plan, overseeing the performance of service areas within their remit and contributing to the Council’s priorities.

Executive Directors Strategic responsibility for the Directorate. Responsible for leading and directing the performance of their Directorate and contributing to the Council’s priorities.

Executive Leadership Team/Heads of Service Group

Strategic responsibility for delivery of the Council’s priorities. Sign off Directorate Plans. Review performance and agree management action to address under performance.

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Cabinet/Scrutiny and Petitions Elected Members are responsible for setting the vision and direction of the Council, approving the Council Plan and reviewing and scrutinising performance information.

Performance Management Forum (PMF) The PMF’s remit is to embed a high performance culture in North Ayrshire Council and implement the Performance Management Strategy through the PMF Work Plan.

6. Reporting

The reporting of performance to Elected Members, the public and other stakeholders helps to ensure accountability. Elected members have a key role in prioritising and scrutinising improvement activity through the committee process including:

the approval of the Council Plan, Performance Management Strategy and Directorate Plans

the scrutiny of six monthly performance reports

the approval and scrutiny of action plans developed in response to investigation, inspection or audit actions

Balanced scorecards which reflect financial and non-financial measures are being

developed to enable reporting at all levels of the organisation.

Performance reporting to Elected Members is underpinned and supported by detailed

reporting and scrutiny at Service and Directorate level.

A process of Performance Review meetings across the Council chaired by the Chief

Executive and supported by a small panel has been introduced. This panel meets with

senior staff from each Directorate on a six monthly basis to have a challenging and

supportive discussion on performance over that period, identifying successes and

addressing barriers. To increase learning, Executive Directors are invited to join

panels as peer reviewers of other Directorates.

A performance reporting timetable is attached at Appendix Two outlining dates and deadlines for performance reports.

6.1 Public Performance Reporting

‘Public Performance Reporting should give stakeholders information that allows them to make informed judgements about public services, to contribute to decisions about what standards of service should be pursued, and to challenge performance in the interests of future service improvement. To be productive, PPR has to involve the right information going in the right way to the right people at the right time’ Source: Statutory guidance (The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 Best Value

Guidance)

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We have developed performance pages on our website – North Ayrshire Performs.

The pages include information on:

The Council’s Performance Management Strategy

Budgets and Finance

Achievements, Recognitions and Awards

Council Performance

Corporate Plans and Policies

Audits and Inspections Progress reports on the Single Outcome Agreement, Directorate Plans and Performance Management Strategy are published six monthly on the website. We publish an Annual Performance Report outlining our performance over the last

year. A range of media is used to report performance information to the public including

the website, press articles, infographs and distribution of information to public offices.

7. Benchmarking

Benchmarking can contribute to improving services by sharing data, processes and solutions to common areas. Benchmarking can be undertaken with other Councils, organisations and sectors but also carried out internally across services. Core elements of Benchmarking include:

understanding how a service or organisation performs in comparison to others

a systematic process that needs to be planned, resourced and carried out

with a degree of rigour

a learning process where the core purpose is to understand why current

performance levels are where they are, how well others perform in the same

service area, and why some services or organisations achieve better

performance results

supporting change and improvement within a service or organisation based

upon knowledge of what constitutes achievable best practice.

All 32 Scottish councils have been working with the Improvement Service (IS) over the

last three years on developing a common approach to benchmarking, which is

grounded in reporting standard information on the services councils provide to local

communities across Scotland - the Local Government Benchmarking Framework

(LGBF).

The core purpose of local government’s efforts through this work is to support all

councils to improve their services by working and learning together. By engaging in

benchmarking we will learn how to keep improving our use of performance information,

improve our understanding of why councils vary in terms of what we achieve for our

communities and how effective service practices can be better shared across all

councils. We will also continue to make this information available to all citizens and

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users of council services, so that they in turn can hold us to account for what is

achieved on their behalf.

Across the Council there are several other sources of benchmarking activities

including:

Insight - Virtual Comparator

ABC Benchmarking Group (Community and Cultural Services)

Scottish Rent Arrears Forum

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)

SOCITM Benchmarking Club

Scottish Community Care Benchmarking Network

The Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR)

Building Standards - South West of Scotland authorities (the 3 Ayrshires plus Dumfries and Galloway. The new National Performance Framework for Building Standards will provide more robust Benchmarking opportunities.

Customer Services Benchmarking Group

Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) Performance Networks

The Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) - Roads and Transportation

Keep Scotland Beautiful - Streetscene

8. Self–assessment and evaluation

Self-assessment and evaluation underpin the Council’s Performance Management

Framework.

Self-evaluation is where a council systematically examines its own services,

achievements and processes to assess whether it is meeting its stated objectives and

outcomes efficiently and effectively

Source: Audit Scotland

Unlike external scrutiny self assessment does not rely on others to make the

assessment but is completed by the Council, Directorate or individual Services. A

team of staff often representing all levels of the section of the Council bring assessed

will answer a challenging set of questions or statements to identify:

What are the strengths of the service

What are the areas for improvement

How does the service perform and how does it compare to others

How do employees and our customers feel about the service

We have developed a team of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)

Accredited Assessors across the Council to provide a greater awareness of the EFQM

Excellence Model and the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF).

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Service wide self-assessments are ongoing across the Council. Tools and

methodologies include:

Public Service Improvement Framework ( PSIF)

European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)

Validated Self Evaluation (VSE) – Education and Skills

Performance Improvement Model (PIM) – Social Services and Health

9. External Assessment and Accreditation

In 2012 we were awarded the Committed to Excellence award from Quality Scotland

and in 2015 were awarded Recognised for Excellence (3 star accreditation). The

Directorate Plans all provide a commitment to performance management including

self-assessment, benchmarking and external recognition. These are all important

elements of our Good to Great journey.

We participate successfully in a number of external awards including:

Quality Scotland’s Scottish Awards for Business Excellence - recognise commitment to Organisational Excellence, Continuous Improvement and Quality. The Levels of Excellence Programme is a series of standards which recognise the different stages of the Excellence Journey:

Commitment to Excellence

Recognised for Excellence

Scottish Awards for Business Excellence

European Quality Awards

In 2013 Housing Services received 5 star accreditation and were awarded the overall winner of the Scottish Business Excellence Award.

The COSLA Excellence Awards - showcase and celebrate the very best of

Scotland’s local services, profiling the innovative and creative approaches that

Scottish local authorities and their partners are embracing to change lives across the

country.

The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Awards - demonstrate

innovation within service delivery and implementation of new approaches, which

improves the level of service to local communities and people.

MJ Achievement Awards - demonstrate innovation, value for money and positive outcomes for local communities and people.

Customer Service Excellence - tests in great depth those areas that research has

indicated are a priority for customers, with particular focus on delivery, timeliness,

information, professionalism and staff attitude. There is also emphasis placed on

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developing customer insight, understanding the user’s experience and robust

measurement of service satisfaction.

Investors in People Standard - showcases and celebrates outstanding people

management. It recognises commitment to developing people and demonstrates

ambition, drive and focus within the organisation.

Healthy Working Lives Award Programme - supports employers and employees

to develop health promotion and safety themes in the workplace in a practical, logical

way, that's beneficial to all.

10. External Audits and Inspections A Local Area Network (LAN) has been established for each council area, and brings together representatives of all the main local government audit and inspection agencies in a systematic way with the common aims of joint scrutiny scheduling and planning, shared risk assessment (SRA), and the delivery of a single corporate assessment – Assurance Improvement Plan (AIP). The AIP outlines any planned scrutiny and inspection activity which will be undertaken as a result of the assessment. Audit Scotland leads the coordination of this work. Evidence from the LAN assessment confirms that we are clearly focusing on and improving its performance management and continuous improvement arrangements.

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Appendices

Appendix One Performance Management Diagram Appendix Two Performance Reporting Timetable Appendix Three Resources

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Appendix One - Performance Management Diagram

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Appendix 2 - Performance Reporting Timetable

January February March April May June

Q3 Updates Development of Directorate Plans Q2 to Scrutiny and Petitions

Development of Performance Management Forum (PMF) Work Plan SOA Action Plan to SMT Q3 to CPP SMT

Directorate Plans to ELT PMF Work Plan to ELT SOA Action Plan to CPP Board

Q4 Updates Directorate Plans to Cabinet PMF Work Plan to Cabinet Public Performance Reporting arrangements report to ELT

Directorate Plans to Scrutiny and Petitions PMF Work Plan to Scrutiny and Petitions Begin development of APR Q4 to CPP SMT

Q4 to ELT Q4 to Cabinet Q4 to CPP Board

July August September October November December

Q1 Updates

Q4 reports to Scrutiny and Petitions Q1 to CPP SMT Annual Performance Report to ELT Non LFR LGBF return to Improvement Service

Annual Performance Report to Cabinet LFR return to Improvement Service North Ayrshire Performs

Q2 Updates Development of Directorate Plans

Q2 to ELT Q2 to CPP SMT Development of Directorate Plans Annual Performance Report to Scrutiny and Petitions

Q2 to Cabinet Development of Directorate Plans

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Appendix Three - Resources

Audit Scotland http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/

Managing Performance: are you getting it right October 2012 Audit Scotland

Best Value Toolkit Toolkit: Performance Management July 2010 Audit Scotland

North Ayrshire Assurance and Improvement Plan Audit Scotland

Improvement Service http://www.improvementservice.org.uk/