Page 42 - DMGT517_PERFORMANCE_MANAGEMENT_SYSTEM

Unit 3: Performance Planning

Notes

New Software to Improve Penrith Council’s Planning

he Penrith City Council’s objective was to effectively produce strategic and
management plans, along with detailed project and activity plans as well as
Tassociated reporting. The Council required online reporting to replace its current
hardcopy reporting and there was a strong desire by the Council to provide staff with an
improved user experience and to increase productivity and skills in both planning and
performance reporting.
Tenders were called to replace the incumbent system in 2002. Four compliant tenders were
received and after a rigorous evaluation process Outcome Manager (Technology One’s
performance planning solution) was selected. This performance planning solution was
deemed to be the most efficient and effective tool and delivered the most fl exibility for

the Council. The Council recognised the system’s ability to produce real productivity and

transparency benefits by enabling tasks to be assigned, delegated, reassigned or shifted to
different levels as well as enabling people on leave to temporarily assign items. Penrith
City Council believed that a performance planning solution would enhance functionality
in areas that were underdeveloped, such as cross functional planning, project evaluation

and both financial and capacity planning. At a grassroots level there was the desire to
provide employees with a greater understanding of their roles within the Strategic and

Management Plan framework and to demonstrate that the Council is efficient and effective
within government as well as being customer focused.
Integration and ease of use were key decision factors. Council saw this solution as the
best choice because it could be deployed via a web browser, enabling the system to fi t
seamlessly with both the intranet and Internet which meant that staff working remotely
could maintain access. Its flexibility and ability to adapt to the Council’s needs, along with

its compatibility with the Council’s Microsoft SQL Server platform, were also integral to
the selection process.
“Council had a strong planning framework and reporting procedures, but until we
implemented a performance planning solution we lacked the system to bring it all
together.”
Ross Kingsley
Corporate Development Manager
Penrith City Council
Source: www.technologyonecorp.com

3.7 Summary

The performance-planning part of the performance-management sequence is primarily a
joint exploration of what individuals need to do and know to improve their performance
and develop their skills and competences, and how their managers can provide the support
and guidance they need.
The performances aspect of the plan obtained agreement on what has to be done to achieve
objectives, raise standards and improve performance.
Performance planning is the key essential for an effective performance management
system.

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