Protecting the Public Trust

Performance measurement as an ethical responsibility? At least one U.S. military leader sees it that way.

by Kelly LeVoyer

To continue to meet America's 21st century maritime threats and challenges, the U.S. Coast Guard initiated the Integrated Deepwater System program, the largest and most innovative acquisition in the Coast Guard's history. Deepwater is not just "new ships and aircraft," but also an integrated approach to upgrading existing assets while transitioning to newer, more capable platforms with improved systems for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as innovative logistics support.

Using business intelligence and analytics from SAS, Rear Admiral Patrick Stillman, the program's Executive Officer, and his team can monitor the performance and progress of the program, as well as provide the reporting required by the governing and oversight bodies in the U.S. government.

sascom Editorial Director Kelly LeVoyer spoke with Admiral Stillman on the virtues and challenges of performance management in the public sector.

Can you give us an idea of the breadth and depth of what you are tracking and reporting with Deepwater?
Deepwater is actually a system of systems that addresses the nation's abilities to contribute to homeland security and homeland defense as well as the execution of the Coast Guard's traditional missions. This comprises potentially a $24 billion investment by the U.S. taxpayer over the next 25 years. It includes not only the construction of new ships and the procurement of new aviation assets, but also the infusion of command and control information technology capabilities and surveillance capabilities that allow these assets to perform their designated missions. We are challenged with assessing performance, as well as predicting performance through predictive analysis over the course of the program's implementation.

We are also charged with assessing the support and operational requirements of these assets over their life span. So with that, we are looking not only at efficiency – as far as the cost of operation of these assets – but also effectiveness, in terms of the return on investment the assets provide to the nation's security and defense needs.

For all of this, we have developed a balanced scorecard approach that really lets us "live in the light," or operate with a greater sense of real-time knowledge.

Why is performance management important to government in particular?
I think that performance management in the public sector is as important, if not more so, than it is in the private sector. In the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and across the administration, people truly feel the responsibility to be attentive to the public trust, to leave it better than we found it. So, the commandant of the Coast Guard directed as a strategic precept this issue of stewardship across all dimensions of the organization. We feel that in the execution of the Deepwater enterprise, stewardship has to be a fundamental prerequisite for success and execution.

The Department of Homeland Security has a strategic foundation built on organizational excellence and we've worked hard to "operationalize" that concept. The U.S. taxpayer expects us to be both efficient and effective, and we take that very seriously. Also, the president and the administration tied budgeting and performance together so that better performance leads to more concrete funding support. Within this framework, and infused with the ethos of public service, we approach performance management not only as a necessity but as a calling.

You are known for having a unique passion for the discipline of performance management. How have you instilled this passion across your organization?
We greatly encourage the concept of constructive knowing: finding metrics and data that provide us with the business intelligence necessary to make the right decisions at the right time. We're measuring efficiency and effectiveness in tangible ways with a balanced scorecard, and we try to bring that scorecard to light so that it really becomes the fulcrum of a learning organization, for what I call inspirational awareness.

I can't think of a better environment than where truth and facts prevail – where collaboration, cooperation and awareness are commonplace attributes. It's about creating trust and relationships among colleagues and with our customers [the men and women of the Coast Guard] by truly giving people a sense of understanding so that they feel comfortable being held accountable and they can benefit from the information.

Equally important is the element of adherence to public law. For example, the Government Performance Results Act requires that outcomes be measurable and linked to the performance of the Coast Guard's mission: Have we been successful in attending to the maritime security needs of the nation? In seizing illegal drugs? In protecting our maritime borders from illegal immigrants? Have we been successful in saving a person in need with our search and rescue capabilities? Have we been successful in protecting our fishery stocks such that our natural resources can serve the needs of a maritime nation? All of these measures are part of a learning organization and, I believe, are an important part of a healthy and constructive enterprise.

Is the performance management system helping you achieve your mission?
Most definitely. It provides the foundation to allow us to focus on the right things at the right time and make better decisions that help us achieve a better return on investment. That's not easy for a multimission organization that is confronting the challenges of a post-9/11 world.

The asset measures certainly help us, for example, keep on top of the acquisition and production of new assets. For example, we have earned value management metrics directly tied to the costs and schedules of the construction of new ships and aviation assets. This provides real-time input to both industry and the government about the state of the program, including elements of human capital management. We apply survey instruments to measure morale as it relates to the tasks at hand, and we measure the satisfaction of the men and women of the Coast Guard who operate the ships or aviation assets – to assess their perspective on the performance of assets that are being produced under the Deepwater umbrella.

Long-term, our desire is to use the balanced scorecard to focus on people, performance and partnership to help define the performance plan for employees. With the Department of Homeland Security leading the movement toward performance-based evaluations in government, we are right now looking at integrating the balanced scorecard as an input into performance evaluations. I'm convinced this is the right way to do business. I think it becomes a force multiplier in attaining superb execution and fostering a sense of accountability and knowing.

What is the role of performance management with regard to gaining and maintaining the trust of your organization and of the public?
I'm unquestionably accountable for the stewardship of the public trust, and the only way I can attain the public trust is to help the people of the Coast Guard be successful in their missions. How better to help than to give them a sense of knowing with the valuable construct of a balanced scorecard that allows them to embrace objectivity and awareness as it relates to their responsibilities? I feel it really becomes a tool that I am ethically obligated to provide my people because I'm blessed with the very best in that regard. The balanced scorecard and the discipline of business intelligence have provided a foundation that we hope to build on. It's how we're doing business every day.