Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted
Departments fail to monitor outcomes for underperforming staff, contrary to Cabinet Office expectations
Recommendation
Further, most departments do not monitor or report what happens to staff identified as underperforming. Monitoring outcomes for underperforming staff is essential if departments are to understand how effectively their performance management systems are supporting people to move out of underperformance or identifying alternatives for those individuals, such as changing roles.42 The Cabinet Office noted there is a balance to be struck between the time departments spend on collecting and reporting data and the time they spend on supporting managers and teams to improve performance.43 However, this is slightly at odds with the Cabinet Office’s own civil service performance management framework, which sets the expectation that departments “must track and be able to report on the progress being made with each individual” identified as underperforming.44
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will design a tool to collate performance management data for 2023-24 and thereafter for central analysis, aiming for readiness in Summer 2024 with a target implementation date of Autumn 2024. It will also review SCS underperformance recording and consider further guidance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2024 5.2 Managing under and poor performance below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is delegated to departments. The Civil Service Performance Management Framework provides a blueprint for departments to develop policies and processes for managing employee performance. 5.3 It includes eight elements: • leaders are accountable for effective performance management in their department; • assessing delivery of employee work objectives and their behaviours; • developing and coaching employees to perform effectively; • differentiating performance; • ensuring that underperformance and poor performance is monitored and addressed; • capturing diversity and inclusion data, to ensure there are no negative impacts of the systems on protected groups; • ensuring that comparable professional standards are applied across organisations; and • there is coordination and consistency between departments’ processes. 5.4 To better understand the extent of underperformance and poor performance, and how it is being managed, the Cabinet Office is designing a tool to collate performance management data for 2023-24, and thereafter, for analysis centrally. The tool will be ready in Summer 2024. The Cabinet Office will work with departments to maximise the use of pre- existing policy tools to address poor performance, or design new ones, if necessary. 5.5 For the SCS, the performance and poor performance policies are set centrally, to be managed and implemented by departments. The Cabinet Office is reviewing how many departments record the number of underperforming SCS, and resulting actions, and will consider whether further guidance on collecting this data, or additional reporting requirements, should be included in the policies for the next performance year.