Practicing what we preach: measuring the performance of the finance office.(tips for public finance managers on how to evaluate employee, department performance)

The finance office is usually where performance data is collected, analyzed, and prepared for decision-making purposes and for presentation in the annual budget. Finance office staff possesses the kinds of skills that a performance measurement system needs to flourish, including the ability to summarize departmental performance goals and achievements for budget deliberations. They often can help department managers--even reluctant ones--formulate appropriate measures and develop a data collection system to monitor them. Many finance shops audit departmental performance measures for relevance and accuracy. So why is it that most financial managers find reliable, meaningful ...