Performance Management
Performance Management
Regular performance management sessions are held between the Mayor’s Senior Team, the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation (OPI), and agency leadership to discuss performance, identify problems, diagnose causes, and direct resources to solve problems. Bureau of the Budget and Management Research (BBMR), Department of Human Resources, and Baltimore City Information and Technology staff also participate in these meetings. Performance management meetings are either agency-focused or topic-focused, centered on a Mayoral priority, and include multiple agencies. OPI has developed a set of "Stat" meetings, including PoliceStat and CleanStat, and additional meetings focused around other key issues.
Service-Level Performance Measures
Service-level performance measures were first developed in Fiscal 2011 for larger agencies and in Fiscal 2012 for small and medium-sized agencies. Agencies work with BBMR and OPI to develop performance measures for each service. Internally, performance measures allow the City to assess the service’s performance over time, and to make corrections if necessary. Externally, performance measures allow the agency to communicate the value that residents receive for their tax dollars.
There are four types of performance measures. The table below gives examples from Service 609: Emergency Medical Services.
| Type | Description | Example for Service 609: Emergency Medical Services |
|---|---|---|
| Output | How much service is being delivered | Number of EMS responses |
| Efficiency | The cost in dollars and/or time per unit of output | Percent of EMS fees collected versus total billable |
| Effectiveness | How well the service meets standards based on customer expectations | Percent of EMS responses within 9 minutes |
| Outcome | How much better off is the customer | Percent of patients surviving cardiac arrest |
Performance measures must meet the S.M.A.R.T. test:
| Label | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S | Specific | The measure is clear and focused |
| M | Measurable | Can be quantified and allow for analysis |
| A | Ambitious | The target should stretch the service to improve performance |
| R | Realistic | The target should make sense given the organization's fiscal constraints |
| T | Time-Bound | There should be a clear timeframe for achieving the targeted performance |
Service level performance measures were first developed in Fiscal 2011 for larger agencies and in Fiscal 2012 for smaller and medium-sized agencies. In Fiscal 2018, MOSS launched a comprehensive review of all service-based performance measures citywide. All performance measures, including past years’ actuals and the next budget year’s target, are reflected in each year’s Agency Detail budget publication.
Agency Performance Plans
In 2022, Mayor Scott established the Baltimore City Performance Team (BCPT) in OPI. BCPT is working with stakeholders across the City to streamline measures collected for existing processes. In preparation for this effort, BBMR and OPI reviewed performance measures as part of the Fiscal 2024 process, working with agencies to identify measures that were duplicative of other measures, were hard to understand, or were majorly impacted by factors beyond the agency's control. Throughout 2023, BCPT will work with agencies to develop performance plans that establish performance measures that will be used in future budget publications. All performance measures, including past year actuals and the next budget year’s target, are reflected annually in the Agency Detail budget publication.