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NPR Balanced Measures Study
Missouri Summary

Missouri has utilized performance measurement for at least 25 years; however, during the past six years efforts have intensified. This recent focus emerged from a comprehensive review of the state to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and prescribe reform. In 1993, the Governor established the Missouri Commission on Management and Productivity (COMAP) by Executive Order with the goals of improving government efficiency and productivity and making service to the public, rather than bureaucratic activity, the measure of program success.

The Missouri Commission on Management and Productivity was based on the experiences of other states that conducted successful management and productivity reviews. The Commission, composed of private sector executives, elected officials, and state senior-level managers, was established to ensure a partnership in reviewing state operations and developing recommendations for improvement. A steering committee was established to ensure a partnership in reviewing state operations, developing recommendations for improvement, and implementing changes. Six task forces developed recommendations and implementation strategies on the following issue areas: automation, efficient operations, fiscal policy, management improvement and customer focus, organizational planning, and workforce. The COMAP recommendations placed emphasis on measuring government performance, customer service and input, and government efficiency. The following are some primary recommendations that relate to Missouri’s balanced scorecard efforts.

Organizational Planning Task Force -- recommended the state implement an Integrated Strategic Planning Process to be used by the 16 state departments.

The Missouri Integrated Strategic Planning Model and Guidelines were developed by the COMAP implementation committee. These guidelines provide consistency across state departments in strategic planning and outline Missouri’s planning principles, process, and written plan components. Each executive department submitted its first plan to the Governor on July 1, 1996. Departments are in the fourth year of updating their plans, which are submitted to the Governor annually for review. State agencies have established long-range strategic plans to guide their programs and budgets. The plans are developed with employee involvement and are customer-focused, and issue- and result-driven.

Fiscal Policy Task Force -- recommended the state adopt a performance-based budgeting system for state budget resource allocation.

Missouri has worked to develop a strong link between their strategic planning and budget efforts. Budget forms used by agencies to justify existing funding and develop requests for additional resources were revised four years ago. Budget requests flow from needs identified in the strategic plans and performance measures are an essential component of the budget forms. Forms include information on all three levels of performance measures. Performance information is heavily used by agencies to justify budget requests and by the Executive and Legislative branches to make funding decisions.

Missouri is in the midst of a project to replace the state’s existing financial, budget preparation, purchasing, and human resource systems. The new automated budgeting system will improve the link between integrated strategic planning and performance budgeting. The new system is scheduled to go on-line July 1, 1999 and will enhance the access, inquiry, and reporting capabilities for managers and provide relevant, accurate, and timely data necessary for policy analysis and decision making. The budget module will provide updated information on key outcome, objective, and output measures for all state agency programs.

Missouri has identified three levels of performance measures for use in planning and budgeting.

Outcome measures reflect results or benefits for the public. The 23 Show Me Results that have been identified by the Governor are considered public benefit outcomes.

Objective measures are quantifiable information which address whether or not agency programs are successful, which will in turn produce the desired outcomes for the citizen/taxpayer. This level is critical to assessing government performance and in linking the strategic plan to the budget request. Objective level measurements are important, as they show the contribution to broader outcomes while providing performance information beyond outputs.

Output measures provide output or workload information on what is being accomplished in terms of units of products or services derived from an activity.

Another effort Missouri has recently undertaken to strengthen the use of performance measures is the establishment of the "Show Me Results" (SMR), which were identified by the Governor in 1997 to keep government focused on results that benefit Missouri citizens. The Governor directed state departments to work on this core set of priority areas to lay the foundations for success for the new century.

Web Site -- Following the deployment of SMR, the Governor directed the establishment of measures for each result in order to track the state’s progress. The SMR process has pushed Missouri’s performance measurement system to a higher level, focusing on measurement of desired outcomes rather than traditional outputs. Measures have been established and baseline data has been collected for the results. These are available to Missourians through the state’s Internet home page.

Sub-cabinets -- In 1998 the Governor appointed five sub-cabinets to develop interagency recommendations to improve state government performance towards achievement of the 23 results. The sub-cabinets are organized around the Show Me Result areas of:

• Prosperous Missourians,
• Educated Missourians,
• Healthy Missourians,
• Safe Missourians, and
• Responsible Government.

These results are being used as a management tool for the Governor and his cabinet, and are bringing agencies together to advance Missouri’s planning efforts. SMR represents an improvement upon previous management efforts by:

• promoting accountability for results, through accurate and complete reporting;
• generating a greater focus on the Governor's priorities, by concentrating on a limited set of results, rather than providing equal attention to all the possible results that could be achieved by state government programs;
• encouraging a reallocation of resources to these priorities, rather than merely generating requests for more money; and
• encouraging interagency strategic planning across the borders of organizations working to achieve similar results.

As Missouri began to focus on public benefit outcomes, it confronted several obstacles including a reluctance of agencies to assume responsibility for broad societal measures over which they felt they had limited control. Missouri addressed this issue in two ways. First, the Governor met with agencies to reassure them about the importance of identifying and reporting measures at this level. Second, agencies were trained on the three levels of measures that Missouri uses and how agency accountability is determined at the objective rather than the outcome level. Agencies realized that, through objective measures, they are able to assess the effectiveness of their own efforts in achieving the larger societal outcomes.

Missouri has learned several lessons during the implementation of their performance measurement process.

1. A long-term focus and committed leadership are key elements in driving change in government organizations.
2. Interagency cooperation and collaboration are essential in creating the synergy needed to improve results.
3. Ongoing training and technical assistance on strategic planning and performance measures for state agency employees is necessary to advance progress on results.

CONTACT INFO:
Lori Strong-Goeke
Assistant Director
Office of Administration
Division of Budget and Planning
Stronl@mail.oa.state.mo.us
http://www.oa.state.mo.us/bp/bp.htm
http://www.oa.state.mo.us/bp/bib99/budsum/index.shtml