Strengthening the Peformance Framework: Towards a High Performing Australian Public Service

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for supporting the development of high performance through an alternative approach to performance management. The proposition of this framework is that, to enable high performance, there needs to be a renewed emphasis on performance management as a core activity that is embedded in all management functions. To be meaningful and effective, performance management needs to be integrated with other management and human resource practices in order to develop an integrated system of high performance; it would commence with job design and flow through to when an employee leaves the organisation. Several of the mechanisms required to support effective performance management are already evident in organisations. However, their application is limited and there are a number of areas where the performance management system could be improved to support performance improvement, employee engagement and high performance.To assist organisations in undertaking a renewed approach to performance management, the Commission1, in collaboration with Professor Deborah Blackman and Dr. Fiona Buick from the University of Canberra, Professor Janine O’Flynn from the University of Melbourne and Professor Michael O’Donnell from the University of New South Wales Canberra, undertook a comprehensive review of the existing literature on high performance and performance management to develop a new conceptual framework. Empirical work undertaken in APS agencies has resulted in the development of a new approach. In the paper we present a new approach to performance management designed to support the development and maintenance of high performance within the APS.The research identified that performance management is an issue affecting every aspect of an agency’s operation, from the performance of individual employees through to the implementation of organisational outcomes expected by Government. A framework has been developed that reconceptualises the elements that support performance improvement and, ultimately, high performance. The paper presents the elements of the framework itself, as well as offering guidance on how to implement the principles and foundation elements.