City Manager Competencies: Lessons for MPA Students

1. City Manager Competencies: Lessons for MPA Students Greg Streib Georgia State University Andrew Young School Department of Public Management and Policy

2. Measuring Competencies • In 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 NIU October 2, 2009

3. Measuring Competencies • The 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

4. Measuring Competencies • The 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). Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

5. Measuring Competencies • A 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… Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

6. Measuring Competencies Assessing 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 a Knowledge Assessment Tool for Local Government Managers,” Public Performance and Management Review (2005), vol. 28, no. 3: pp. 418-436. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

7. The PBA • The 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

8. The PBA • A 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

9. The PBA Performance Areas • We 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

10. The PBA 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. • 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 Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

11. PBA Importance Rating Lesson: Elected Official Define the Job Differently. Responsiveness Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

12. Importance Population/Managers 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

13. Importance Population/Elected Lesson: Small town elected officials expect more communication. 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

14. Performance Gap (Managers) 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

15. Performance Gap (Elected) Performance gap=Expected performance – Current performance Lesson: If your staff are not working…neither are you. Manager Top Gaps 1. Service Delivery, 2.Policy facilitation 3. Communication, 4. Staff Effectiveness, 5. Strategic Leadership Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

16. Close-up on Staff Effectiveness 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? Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

17. Policy Facilitation Performance in Detail

18. Strategic Leadership in Detail

19. Conclusion 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… Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

20. 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

21. 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

22. 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. Streib Visit to NIU October 2, 2009

23. The End