Navigating the Waters of Purchasing Performance Measures

1. Navigating the Waters of Purchasing Performance Measures Danielle Hinz, CPPO, C.P.M., Purchasing & Contracts Manager, City of Longmont Sandra Seader, MPA, Assistant to the City Manager, City of Longmont

2. What are your challenges in using performance measures for purchasing services?

3. Background of ICMA and CPM • International City Managers Association coordinates National Performance Measures • Various municipal and county service areas are compared • However, tough to nationally compare in some areas, especially internal services

4. Colorado Consortium of Performance Measures • 17 Colorado municipalities coordinated to create “core measures” which were comparable state-wide, as well as some nationally – plug for communities who participated • Met with service areas to determine core measures through a facilitated process • Determined key goals and objectives • Developed key indicators & measures • Will collect and analyze data • Report results and use to help improve or justify service delivery

5. Performance Measures in General • One tool in the toolbox to determine how we are doing towards achieving goals and objectives • Evaluates effectiveness and efficiency of operations • Keeps our fingers on the pulse of operations • Ensures our commitment to learning and continuous improvement through comparison with other entities • Tells our story

6. Audience Participation – don’t be scared!

7. Purchasing Performance Measures • What are the goals of your purchasing service? • How do you know when you are doing a good job? • At your row, look at the goals and determine how you would measure if you are doing a good job – 2-3 per group • Debrief and share

8. Lather, Rinse and Repeat Repeat this exercise with your staff, your colleagues, your professional organizations until you have a set of measures that tell your story, help you manage your operations and enhance your performance.

9. So what did the Colorado Consortium settle on? • Provide efficient process for customers and fair process for vendors • Ensure compliance and legal protection for taxpayers, vendors and internal customers • 1. Process Timing – time from when the customer initiates the process to the end of process (Requisition to Purchase Order, or Time purchasing “clock” starts to Purchase Order). Do not include informal bids. a. Formal RFPs – Calendar days from draft specifications received to Purchase Order issuance. b. Formal Bids – Calendar days from draft specifications received to Purchase Order issuance. • 2. Purchases Made a. Dollar amount of all purchases made, reviewed, or approved by the central purchasing office per central purchasing FTE. b. Does the dollar amount in part “a” above include construction? Yes or No • 3. Number of written protests filed • 4. Number of written protests filed and sustained

10. More Nitty Gritty… • Outcomes: Acquire the best value for the dollar for the organization • Utilize technology to its fullest capabilities • 5. P-card purchases/credit card purchases as percentage of total purchases • 6. Value added question/Cost savings measure (buyer performance) – Average amount of bids rejected versus actual award • Average of Non-Awarded bids/RFPs – Awarded Bid/RFPs = Savings

11. How do you determine cost savings through procurement?

12. More Nitty Gritty… • Outcomes: Achieve high customer service with vendors and internal customers • Provide education and be proactive in working with vendors and internal customers • 7. Customer Satisfaction – statistically appropriate and a portion is ICMA measure Number of internal customers/respondents rating their purchasing experiences as "excellent," "good," "fair," or "poor" on each of the characteristics listed below for the period covered by the survey a. Quality of service b. Timeliness of service c. Overall satisfaction d. Accessibility of information around purchasing process e. Understanding of customer objectives f. Involvement in the purchasing process g. Handling disposal of equipment and supplies

13. More Nitty Gritty… • 8. Number of external customers/respondents rating their purchasing experiences as "excellent," "good," "fair," or "poor" on each of the characteristics listed below for the period covered by the survey a. Quality of service b. Timeliness of service c. Overall satisfaction d. Accessibility of information around purchasing process e. Ease of doing business with jurisdiction

14. Last of the Nitty Gritty… • Outcome: Provide leadership to the organization • 9. Amount of purchasing training budget per central professional purchasing FTE • 10. Environmentally preferable purchasing a. Do you have an environmentally preferable purchasing policy/practice? Yes or No b. If yes, please describe:

15. Things to Remember… • The apples and oranges do fall far from trees on the opposite sides of the country - don’t get caught up in the details as much as the spirit of the measure when comparing nationally or regionally • Think of measures as a way to tell your story, not a punitive or futile exercise • What gets measured matters, so make it matter!