Develop meaningful non-financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs)
Developing Non-Financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs) to Strengthen Government Performance Reporting
Grosvenor partnered with the National Capital Authority to develop meaningful non-financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs) and a fit-for-purpose performance framework that strengthened organisational performance reporting, improved strategic decision-making and supported compliance with the Australian Government’s performance and accountability requirements.
Situation
The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established under the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act 1988 to manage the Commonwealth’s interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. In government, non-financial KPIs—short for non-financial Key Performance Measures—play a vital role in ongoing accountability. The NCA has overall responsibility for planning, promoting, maintaining and enhancing Australia’s Capital.
Task
NCA sought support to uplift non-financial performance information related to the Corporate Plan in preparation for the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) auditing of annual performance statements. Importantly, the project focused on enhancing non-financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs) to provide better insight into organisational effectiveness.
This included designing non-financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs) for the 2023-24 Corporate Plan and to establish a practical and fit-for-purpose Performance Framework, including policy, procedures and templates to enable effective KPI reporting. Applying these measures ensures a broader perspective on organisational performance beyond financial metrics.
Approach
A six-step methodology was administered to complete the development of KPIs and a fit-for-purpose Performance Framework. The methodology used by Grosvenor included:
> consultations with key internal stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current state including, NCA’s operations and services, current Corporate Plan, existing Business Plans, current approach to performance measurement and reporting, and current performance culture and appetite for change
> conducting consultations with internal functions to develop a Logic Model clearly outlining NCA’s purpose, strategic outcomes, outcomes, outputs and activities. The Logic Model was used to ensure priority outcomes are clearly identified and critically analysed, and key elements of NCA’s operations are isolated and highlighted to be monitored as a result
> facilitating an executive strategic planning workshop for senior executives to establish strategic priorities for 2023-24, informed by consultations and the Logic Model. This workshop emphasised non-financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs) to encourage a holistic performance view.
> development of KPIs directly informed by the Logic Model, including data requirements, targets, data sources, and identification of the measure types for ANAO’s purposes. Throughout this process, particular emphasis was on selecting meaningful non-financial Key Performance Measures (KPIs) to align with strategic objectives.
> development of a Performance Framework, including a Performance Measurement and Reporting policy, data collection and reporting processes, and KPI reporting information and associated templates for relevant data collection
Result
Grosvenor provided NCA with a full suite of KPIs and a Performance Framework to supplement the NCA Corporate Plan 2023-24 strategic priorities as determined in the executive strategic planning workshop. In summary, KPIs that are non-financial Key Performance Measures have started driving improvements in NCA’s performance management systems. This will support NCA to have robust non-financial performance measures into the future and uplift their performance monitoring and reporting capabilities. This will ensure NCA’s performance reporting reflects the organisation’s key priorities and is measured appropriately and accurately.
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