Performance management is closely tied to the context of its occurrence. The context provides many variables that may influence performance management at all stages. However, it might be difficult to predict them. Missed opportunities provide a perfect example of such variables – it emphasizes situations and events that go beyond the scale of performance planning, either unexpected or not included in the objectives because of not being recognized as opportunities.
A perfect illustration of a missed opportunity is the population’s health in the context of cultural competence and the COVID-19 outbreak. According to Gold et al. (2020), there is a great racial disparity among the disease victims. In the total U.S. population, Hispanic and Black minorities represent approximately nineteen and thirteen percent; however, among the reported deaths, their representation increased to twenty-five and nineteen percent, accordingly (Gold et al., 2020). The statistics showcase increased risks of the minorities’ exposure to the disease and the exacerbations’ development. Cultural competence implies equal treatment; in this case, however, the disparities in the healthcare access caused the opposite.
Socio-ecological framework implies the interconnection of an individual and the society they live in. It also means that changes at any framework level might invoke change on other layers (Communities for Healthy Living, 2017). It implies the importance of the evaluation conducted by the framework because it allows to identify and keep track of the societal issues and consequently address them (Stanford Leap, 2017). For instance, Lile and MacTavish (2020) studied adolescents’ development tendencies in a rural community in Oregon. Based on the uncovered risks of mental health issues, homelessness, and educational disruption, the provision of community services, such as food banks, homelessness outreach, and youth services teams, was organized accordingly (Lile & MacTavish, 2020). However, if the evaluated community is subjected to certain problems, its evaluation might face specific issues. Psychologically, people from such societies would be more concerned about their own well-being than collective satisfaction. Thus, the individualistic approach might affect the desire to participate in the measurement in the first place.
In this context, the goal of building coalitions or partnerships inside community-based organizations would be met with a psychological barrier of increased individualism, if not egoism. Therefore, the community-based organization should consider the stakeholders’ delicate and individual treatment, keeping the climate inside the organization as their priority. If the organization manages to showcase the contrast between the inside and outside environment, people might be more inclined to invest resources into the organizational activities. In general, the collaborative effort of the community should become the target of the company’s actions. However, according to Auspos and Kubisch (2012), it belongs among the most challenging features to track, measure, and quantify. The reasons for that lie in the organizational tendency to aim for the outcomes on the individual and, sometimes, family levels of the socio-ecological framework, while the collaborative effort resides at the society level.
When developing a particular program, policy, or practice evaluation, the staff should consider several important features. First, there is a need to plan the performance. In particular, the team should focus on the goals and standards setting as well as the identification of required data. It involves all stakeholders’ agreement on the targets that would satisfy everyone. Additionally, they should decide where exactly they will acquire information and how to document it. After the decision is made, the staff should focus on data measurement and acquisition. In this context, the data could be separated into three categories: inputs, outputs, and outcomes (Auspos & Kubisch, 2012). Inputs include the resources used in the measurement, such as expenses or the number of involved staff; outputs describe the quantity and quality of the job done; the outcomes are the achieved results. The final step is the assessment of gathered information – a constant and often routine task; it is nevertheless crucial in terms of checking whether the set goals are being achieved.
References
Gold, J., Rossen, L. M., Ahmad, F. B., Sutton, P., Li, Z., Salvatore, P. P., Coyle, J. P., DeCuir, J., Baack, B. N., Durant, T. M., Dominguez, K. L., Henley, S. J., Annor, F. B., Fuld, J., Dee, D. L., Bhattarai, A., & Jackson, B. R. (2020). Race, ethnicity, and age trends in persons who died from COVID-19 – United States. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 69(42), 1517–1521. Web.
Auspos, P. & Kubisch, A. C. (2012). Performance management in complex, place-based work: What it is, what it isn’t, and why it matters. Aspen Institute.
Communities for Healthy Living. (2017). Ecological Model [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Lile, J. R., & MacTavish, K. A. (2020). “I’ve been through a lot”: Perspectives on growing up in rural poverty. Children and Youth Services Review, 119. Web.
Stanford Leap. (2017). Inclusive Demographic Questions [Video]. YouTube. Web.