City Manager Competencies: Lessons for MPA Students Greg Streib Georgia State University Andrew...

City Manager Competencies: Lessons for MPA Students

Greg StreibGeorgia State University

Andrew Young SchoolDepartment of Public Management and Policy

Measuring CompetenciesIn order to assess city manager

competencies, we need to know what the job requires. We could debate that topic for some time, of course, but city managers gave us some answers—in their own words.

Streib Visit to NIUOctober 2, 2009

Measuring CompetenciesThe

Practices for Effective Local Government Management were developed in 1991 by the ICMA Task Force on Continuing Education and Professional Development.

They identified the competencies and skills required of an effective local government manager. Eighteen core competencies were identified and placed into eight groups.


http://www.icma.org/main/bc.asp?ssid1=2495&ssid3=2495&from=search&hsid=11&bcid=120&t=0

http://www.icma.org/main/bc.asp?ssid1=2495&ssid3=2495&from=search&hsid=11&bcid=120&t=0

Measuring CompetenciesThe identification of the practices involved an

intense two year effort. A total of 33 dialogue sessions were held around the country, and there were two mailed surveys.

The practices became the foundation for the development of two assessment instruments, the Applied Knowledge Assessment (AKA) and the Performance-Based Assessment (PBA).


Measuring CompetenciesA total of 1197 city managers took the AKA

between 2000 and 2007.The AKA is now a required part of becoming

an ICMA credentialed manager.AKA scores have been published in academic

and practitioner publications…


Measuring CompetenciesAssessing the Ethical Knowledge of City Managers,” Public Integrity (2009). Forthcoming.

“City Managers and E government Development: Assessing Technology Literacy and‐Leadership Needs.” International Journal of Electronic Government Research (2008), vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 37 53. Co author, Ignacio Navarro.‐ ‐

“Performance on the ICMA Applied Knowledge Assessment: Trends and Patterns,” The Municipal Yearbook 2005, pp. 34-40. Co-authors Mark Rivera and Ignacio Navarro.

“Quantifying the Knowledge of Public Management Professionals: Developing aKnowledge Assessment Tool for Local Government Managers,” Public Performance and Management Review (2005), vol. 28, no. 3: pp. 418-436.


The PBAThe PBA is a 360° instrument drawn directly

from the Practices for Effective Local Government Management.

The 360° concept is that a manager is reviewed by themselves, supervisors and subordinates.

The PBA was less popular than the AKA, but the data are far richer.


The PBAA total of 59 managers took the PBA between

August 6, 2000 and April 3, 2007.These respondents were evaluated by 216

elected officials, which is an average of nearly 4 per respondent.

Our data include the managers rating of the importance of the performance areas rated and the managers rating of his or her performance and expected performance.


The PBA Performance AreasWe also have these same data elements for

the raters—the importance of each performance area, the observed performance of the manager, and the expected performance.

These data give us insights into the frailties of city manager government, from the perspectives of managers themselves and elected officials.


The PBA


Staff Effectiveness: coaching/mentoring, team leadership, empowerment, and delegating

Policy Facilitation: facilitative leadership, facilitating council effectiveness, and mediation/negotiation

Service Delivery Management: functional/operational expertise and planning, citizen service, and quality assurance

Strategic Leadership: initiative and risk taking, vision, creativity and innovation, and technological literacy

Democratic Responsiveness: democratic advocacy, diversity, and citizen participation

Organizational Planning and Management: budgeting, financial analysis, human resources management, and strategic planning

Communication: advocacy, presentation skills, media relations, and interpersonal communication

Integrity: personal, professional, and organizational

Remember that these areas of competency and skills…even down to the wording

came from the city managers themselves. This is not about seeing if city managers meet

an academic ideal. This is about how well managers do

the job as they defined it.

PBA Importance Rating


Integrity

Communication

Organizational planning

Democratic responsiveness

Strategic leadership

Service delivery management

Policy facilitation

Staff effectiveness

7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0

9.26

8.07

8.37

8.06

8.07

8.29

8.43

8.15

9.86

8.18

8.39

7.91

7.68

8.28

8.71

8.68

City ManagersElected Officials

Lesson: Elected Official Define the Job Differently.

Responsiveness

Importance Population/Managers


Integrity

Communication





Policy facilitation

Staff effectiveness

7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0

9.80

8.08

8.28

8.14

7.74

8.31

8.88

8.72

9.91

8.25

8.48

7.73

7.63

8.26

8.58

8.66

Population lower than 20,000

Lesson: Small town managers/more organizational responsibilities.

It is also likely the manager invests more in personal relationships—more communication. Integrity is also more front and center.

Importance Population/Elected


Lesson: Small town elected officials expect more communication.

Integrity

Communication





Policy facilitation

Staff effectiveness

7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0

9.53

8.02

8.40

8.12

8.12

8.37

8.52

8.12

9.05

8.11

8.34

8.02

8.03

8.23

8.37

8.17

Population lower than 20,000

Population higher than 20,000

Managers may have told us something about the job that elected officials do not know: organizational work and that ethical issue get more attention in small

communities.

Performance Gap (Managers)


Integrity




Staff effectiveness

Communication

Policy facilitation


0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2

0.44

0.46

0.65

0.70

0.79

0.82

0.83

1.03

Performance Gap

Performance Gap

Performance gap=Expected performance – Current performance

Keep in mind that these are top groups are where managers fell short. That is to say, it is hard to perform well in these areas.

Performance Gap (Elected)


Performance gap=Expected performance – Current performance

Integrity





Communication

Policy facilitation

Staff effectiveness

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

0.32

0.38

0.48

0.56

0.62

0.65

0.66

0.68

Performance Gap

Performance Gap

Manager Top Gaps

1. Service Delivery, 2.Policy facilitation 3. Communication, 4. Staff Effectiveness, 5. Strategic Leadership

Lesson: If your staff are not working…neither are you.

Close-up on Staff Effectiveness


City Managers Elected Officials 7.4

7.6

7.8

8

8.2

8.4

8.6

8.8

9

9.2

8.68

8.15

7.96

8.27

8.75

8.95

ImportanceCurrent PerformanceExpected Performance

Lesson: Importance and Performance Expectations are not the same thing.

The importance and performance expectations nearly match for managers, and this is not the case for elected officials. Do managers and elected officials see the world differently?

Policy Facilitation Performance in DetailQuestions Current

(CM)Expected

(CM)Current

(EO)Expected

(EO)

1.Facilitates the policy development process by building cooperation and consensus among diverse groups

7.40 8.56 8.00 8.80

2. Effectively anticipates the consequences of policy decisions 8.00 8.72 8.38 9.033. Avoids overly simplistic solutions to policy conflicts 7.86 8.43 8.50 8.854. Understands the complexities of community issues 8.61 8.95 8.68 9.105. Helps elected officials understand the trade-offs associated with policy decisions

7.93 8.78 8.36 9.05

6. Presents policy-related information clearly and accurately 8.02 8.88 8.39 9.047. Develops policy recommendations that reflect an understanding of community players and their interrelationships

8.12 8.84 8.24 9.00

8. Follows the lead of others in policy decisions when appropriate

8.37 9.03 8.36 8.83

9. Helps elected officials arrive at policy decisions that can be implemented effectively

8.00 8.90 8.39 9.04

10. Helps elected officials arrive at policy decisions that are in the best interest of the community

8.31 9.09 8.49 9.17

11. Does not encroach on the rights and privileges of elected officials

8.33 9.19 8.74 9.30

12. Demonstrates effective negotiation skills 8.07 8.91 8.37 9.0413. Effectively resolves policy disputes 7.54 8.59 7.94 8.8514. Is respected as a neutral party in policy discussions 7.15 8.41 7.80 8.76

Questions Current(CM)

Expected

(CM)

Current(EO)

Expected

(EO)

1. Accepts responsibility for undesirable results 9.02 9.21 8.33 8.94

2. Challenges the status quo 8.49 8.36 7.81 8.663. Finds ways to remove stumbling blocks that threaten to delay progress toward goals and objectives 7.83 8.52 8.05 8.79

4. Conveys a compelling vision for the community 7.43 8.30 7.82 8.80

5. Effectively sets and achieves goals consistent with a community vision 7.69 8.60 8.18 8.88

6. Energizes the community to strive to ensure a better future 6.69 7.91 7.34 8.55

7. Effectively communicates a clear organizational mission to staff and employees 7.34 8.71 8.20 8.94

8. Sets goals consistent with the organizational mission 8.00 8.74 8.63 9.03

9. Is willing to take risks 8.37 8.33 7.83 8.5010. Applies existing ideas and solutions in new situations 7.73 8.28 8.39 8.62

11. Demonstrates an understanding of information technology 7.19 8.16 8.29 8.5712. Demonstrates a commitment to making appropriate use of information technology throughout the organization 8.05 8.38 8.45 8.76

13. Uses information technology to improve service delivery 7.59 8.19 8.32 8.70

14. Uses information technology to keep the community informed 7.22 8.29 8.13 8.82

15. Uses information technology to improve organizational communication 7.54 8.33 8.31 8.64

16. Uses information technology to improve citizen access 7.12 8.24 8.03 8.76

Strategic Leadership in Detail

We can start with the assumption that only confident and successful city managers would have been courageous enough to use this instrument, and this leaves us with some interesting conclusions about the nature of the city management job.

City managers want you to know…

Conclusion


Communicate clearly and accurately.Help elected officials understand the trade-

offs associated with policy decisions.Bring people together, but not necessarily

toward your point of view.

Conclusion


Accept a leadership role. Question the status quo, convey a compelling vision, and energize your community to action.

Communicate your mission to staff is also critical.

Recognize that technology is essential to the city manager job. Show you understand technology, use it for communication, and improve citizen access.

Conclusion


If you chose a job in a smaller community, expect to spend more time on organizational tasks. Also be aware that maintaining communication and integrity may be more challenging.

Conclusion


The End

City Manager Competencies: Lessons for MPA Students Greg Streib Georgia State University Andrew...

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