CAF_BROCHURE_ENGL
18.05.2006
12:57 Uhr
Seite 96
Results and Conclusions “CAF works – Better results for the citizens by using CAF” presents 29 selected cases from 15 European countries who achieved remarkable results by using CAF. All in all the cases offer a broad variety of results and ways to measure them. In this respect measuring is the key word and this publication underlines its importance in the management and improvement of public administrations. Therefore the publication concentrates on the results criteria, measurements and improvements and touches the enabler criteria only as a precondition to achieve improvements Some conclusions on the cases The quality of the missions and visions presented differs from case to case. The view and understanding on mission and vision has to be sharpened in order to enable public sector organisations to concentrate on their core tasks and to define their strategies. The definition or measurement of results is in most of the cases strongly related to the CAF self-assessment process. The CAF process reveals the lack of results or weaknesses in existing results. Weaknesses in the methods of measurement also become transparent within the CAF process. Concerning Criterion 6 – Customer/Citizen-Oriented Results – the predominant method of measuring results is the traditional paper questionnaire, whereas more and more organisations are starting to use modern information and communication technologies such as online forms or e-mail to get proper feedback. Key issues are the frequency of measurements and the combination of different data sources used to acquire new knowledge of the organisation. Criterion 7 – People Results also reveals a predominance of traditional paper questionnaires and staff interviews as the most frequently chosen method for measurement. Innovative elements such as open space events and electronic idea collection systems are arising. Performance appraisal interviews are also used more and more to better involve the employees in the daily business processes.
Results and Conclusions 96
Only four organisations presented results in criterion 8 which are mainly collected by surveys and related statistics about contacts and visits which were used to interpret the society results. Criterion 9 – Key performance results are mainly collected by surveys and related statistics. Interviews with stakeholders and cost accounting systems seem to be more innovative elements. All in all, it should be noted that innovative methods of measurement or result definition are very rare. Furthermore, the cases show that citizen/customer and employee satisfaction has to be measured on a more permanent basis. Quality management means continuous improvement which is based on permanent measurements and the resulting actions. Innovative improvement actions are mostly related to the usage of modern information and communication technology such as e-government, websites, business process software or mobile phone functionalities. Furthermore, the importance of transparency as a key element of good governance can be seen in many cases. The efforts of public sector organisations to reduce costs and process time as well as getting nearer to the citizens and customers are key elements in the improvement activities of the presented cases which relate to criteria 6 and 9. Modern methods of human resource management can often be observed as an improvement action. Job descriptions, skill profiles, job interviews, individual target setting etc. lead to better results in criterion 7. The importance of open information and communication policy as well as public relations efforts to gain better results has to be stressed. This shows that a fresh modern culture arises in the public organisations. CAF provides a framework for introducing public management strategy and tools. This can be seen when CAF is used to define a strategy for the organisation or simply by defining the initial measures, responsibilities and time schedules for improvement actions.
