The Division of Data, Planning, and Improvement (DPI) within the department strives to maximize the performance of state executive branch agencies through implementation of longer-term strategic plans and annual operational plans.
We advise agencies on the development of performance measures and ensure that agencies effectively track their performance metrics to drive operational outcomes.
To drive performance based budgeting and ensure the management of financial resources, we engage agencies in program reviews.
We also publish agency plans and performance results to inform Iowans about their return from investment in state government.
Iowa Code Chapter 8E
Accountable Government Act
The Accountable Government Act (AGA) establishes the performance management framework for the State of Iowa's Executive Branch.
The frequently asked questions provide answers to questions commonly asked about implementing the requirements of the AGA.
Strategic planning involves identifying strategic initiatives that will guide progress towards achieving the enterprise priorities. It involves developing the department's mission and vision, conducting an assessment of the department's current state, and setting strategic initiatives to be enacted over the next 3-5 years.
When done well, strategic planning helps department leaders organize, direct, and support the achievement of initiatives, strategies, and actions leading to results.
Operational planning guides day-to-day operations of the department. It is a representation of the mission; generated to define annual goals and highlight measures and metrics for those goals.
When done well, operational planning helps employees support the achievement of goals, strategies, and actions leading to results.
An operational plan is a detailed outline of what the department will focus on in the current fiscal year while the strategic plan focuses on mission, vision, and high level initiatives for the next 3 to 5 years.
Performance measures can help managers make better, more informed decisions. Measures are a tool used by managers as a means to run the agency. Just as saws, hammers and levels are a carpenter’s tools; performance measures are tools in a manager’s toolbox. Consequently, performance measures serve as a means to an end, not an end in itself.
When used effectively, measures help provide a powerful means of focus within the agency. When leadership is focused on reaching goals set for the agency, measurement is a means to assure the leaders the agency is on course to reach those goals. When leadership checks on the measures, the agency will pay attention to the measures. Consequently, “what gets measured gets done.” This helps to assure accountability in reaching agency or enterprise goals.
Outcome based measures monitor “how much” was produced or provided. They provide a number indicating the effective result of the tax dollars that were spent.
Examples include:
Number of permits issued
Number of pavement miles resurfaced
Number of people trained
Number of cases managed
Number of arrests made
Number of documents processed
Number of Iowans served
Efficiency measures are used to monitor the relationship between the amount produced and the resources used. This means that efficiency measures are created by comparing input and output. There are two general types of efficiency measures: unit cost and productivity. Unit cost is a comparison of an input to an output (i.e. resources used/number produced). Productivity is a comparison of an output to an input (i.e. number produced/resources used). Examples include:
Unit Cost
Cost per license issued
Cost per employee taught
Cost per lane-mile paved
Cost per client served
Cost per document
Productivity
Licenses processed per employee-hour
Units produced per week
Students taught per instructor
Cases resolved per agent
Calls handled per hour
Quality measures are used to determine whether customer expectations are being met. These expectations can take many forms, including: timeliness, accuracy, meeting regulatory requirements, courtesy, and meeting customer needs. The expectations can be identified as a result of internal or external feedback. The comparison of outputs is often used to create measures of quality. It may be important to identify certain aspects (aspects / total outputs) about the services, products or activities produced by an organization that are important to its customers. This comparison of specific outputs to total outputs is used to create measures of accuracy, timeliness and to determine the extent regulatory requirements are met. Quality measures can also be derived from the evaluation of customer feedback data. Examples include:
Percent of drivers licenses issued within one hour.
Percent of applications requiring rework due to internal errors.
Taxpayer error rate on tax returns.
Percent of wells meeting minimum water quality requirements.
Percentage of clients that rated themselves as successfully rehabilitated.
Percentage of customers that rated service good, very good or excellent.
