Measuring performance and effectiveness for Mäori ... - Te Puni Kokiri

5.4 THE NEED FOR FORETHOUGHT
Much of the international literature notes that
developing good performance measures and
reporting requires a lot of forethought around
the behavioural implications that might result
from particular indicators (Gill and Russell,
2011, pp.10-12, 36-42). The international
literature clearly identified examples of
gaming and cheating in the delivery of
employment services, and associated with
performance measures of ethnicity based on
administration data. 8
More broadly the international literature noted
the dynamics established by performance
measurement of performance management
means that four perverse laws operate, namely
the laws of:
• decreasing effectiveness (the system
is perverted);
• mushrooming (the system is bloated);
• collective blindness (myopia based on
short-sighted putting too much weight on
production figures); and
• preserving perverted systems (i.e.
insufficient incentives for abandoning the
system) (de Bruijn (2006, p.37) discussed in
Gill and Russell, 2011, p.11).
While it is not the topic of this literature
review, international sources provided some
useful advice about reducing perverse strategic
behaviour (see, for example, de Bruijun, 2006).
5.5 THE NEED FOR LONG-TERM
COMMITMENT
Successfully measuring and improving
effectiveness for Mäori requires agencies to
have a consistent and long-term commitment
to measuring and improving outcomes for
Mäori. This commitment is needed because
changes in high level outcome states can
take a long time to materialise. Other
contributing factors include the challenging
nature of improving high level outcomes for
Mäori (Humpage, 2002, 2008; Human Rights
Commission, 2011a). Developing robust Mäorispecific
performance measures for the benefit of
Mäori consumers of the service can take years.
The Te Hua Oranga measurement framework tool
took 10 years of trialling to develop.
5.6 THE NEED FOR COLLABORATION
Strong leadership is also required in order to
ensue “a whole of government approach if
the needs of diverse population groups are
to be addressed effectively” (Human Rights
Commission, 2011a, p.33).
“The ability of an agency to work
collaboratively with other agencies was
considered essential and a critical measure of
effectiveness (for measuring effectiveness from
a Te Ao Mäori perspective), as was the ability
of an agency to put in place interventions that
were more holistic in nature and addressed
multiple needs” (Durie et al., 2012, p.45). Many
of the social issues experienced by Mäori
consumers of social services are complex (as
with other clients), often linked to a broad
range of concerns, not able to be addressed
by a single agency or even single intervention
and therefore require integrated and
comprehensive solutions. This is particularly
true for agencies that seek to facilitate a
whänau approach to resolve problems, and
measure effectiveness for Mäori consumers
and their whänau (Durie, et al., 2012).
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8 One example was the use of unnecessary interventions targeted at the easy-to-place job seekers in order to improve the
recorded performance of the measures. The list of hazards relevant to employment services includes:
• cheating and gaming (Radnor, 2008);
• creating unintended consequences (see Nun, Bickkerstaffe and Mitchell, 2009, on negative externalities);
• excessive costs relative to the benefits (de Bruijn, 2006); and
• displacement leading to worthwhile activities being de-prioritised (discussed in Gill and Russell, 2011, p.17).
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