Types of Government Metrics

If private corporations measure performance are done to a rank and file employee level, this is also a necessity for the government. What corporations do is see if the employees’ activities are aligned with the vision and mission of the company, and make sure that all substandard performances are addressed. Government metrics should also be applied to see if the government officials are functioning at par with what is expected of them. Also, the government body as a whole, should have ways to check if they are giving service to the public as they are expected to.One metric the government should use is the cost effectiveness metric. This is normally seen in projects that the government undertakes. In most cases, the effectiveness of cost cutting is acted upon with bidding strategies. A lot of private organizations think that doing business with the government means more money. Apparently, this is a false belief. The government will deal with companies who have the lowest prices without compromising quality of work. As part of the cost cutting plans of the government, bidding is a standard procedure whenever there is a project that needs to be accomplished. The process is that there will be a public invitation for all manufacturers or contractors and they will bid for the lowest price. The contractor who can provide the lowest price of service to the government usually gets the deal.Other than the bidding, another metric that the government measures is the job cost. Job costing is usually measured against industry standards. There may be some projects that are priced too high. When this happens, the government is said to be inefficient in handling funds. There are a lot of issues that can go on if a government project is funded too high. Usually, an acceptable financial expense is something that is well within, below, or slightly above industry standards.Another metric that the government should look into is the time spent per job. Financing a project just because it is low-priced is not always an indication of a good deal. Projects need to be accomplished at a desired time. Any delay is equated to extra expenses and most of these expenses are really unnecessary. If no one in the government will oversee how the project is doing, there is a big possibility that the contractor will relax and delay delivery of service.Other than project-related and financial metrics, the government can also measure its performance through customer satisfaction. Of course, the customers are the public — civilians who rely on the government for several things, like medication, insurance, social security, public safety, etc. Surveys can be done in many ways. Some of these are traditional, like telephone surveys, by mail, or actual survey forms in paper. Others use computer kiosks in the actual government office and others send it through email.Just about the same way with managing a business, government metrics should be developed in a fashion that shows alignment between public expectation and the actual government function. This way, taxpayers are sure that their money does not go to waste.