Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 07

20 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2017 Performance Katie E. Brown T he Performance and Planning Exchange’s (PPX) 21st Annual Symposium was held May 23 – 25, 2017 in Ottawa with over 150 participants in attendance and mul- tiple sponsors and exhibitors. The theme for 2017, “Delivering Results: Coming of Age”, focused on the growing maturity in results-driven fields of work. Follow- ing a full day of pre-symposium training courses delivered by leading practitioners in the fields of planning, performance, and audit, there were two days of keynote and concurrent speaker sessions and network- ing opportunities. PPX is a non-profit Canadian centre of excellence for learning, sharing, and de- veloping expertise in performance and planning – including its measurement, implementation, public reporting and management. As a top priority in the pub- lic sector, the results and delivery agenda is focused on strengthening these disci- plines within a continuously evolving and maturing environment. These reforms are being implemented by skilled profes- sionals, who are dedicated to addressing the many challenges they face. Day One The opening keynote addressed the Gov- ernment of Canada’s journey on building a results-based culture and systems. Mat- thew Mendelsohn, the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet for Results and Delivery in the Privy Council Office, gave an account of the Office’s experience and objectives in leading the federal government’s Re- sults and Delivery Unit. He emphasized the need to work across government de- partments and to support the priorities of the Government of Canada. The luncheon keynote speaker show- cased the growth and maturity of The Shepherds of Good Hope, a well-known Delivering Results: Coming of Age Ottawa community based non-profit. Adam Smith, a long-standing member of the Board of Directors and Foundation Board, discussed their results-based ap- proach to implementing the Shepherds’ Managed Alcohol Program. The program provides regulated doses of alcohol to program participants as a way to address problems associated with severe alcohol abuse. While highly controversial when it was first introduced, the use of data and a focus on outcomes has contributed to the success of the program. Dr. Colin Talbot, Professor of Govern- ment at the University of Manchester in the UK provided an overview of perfor- mance in government and discussed ma- jor issues since the inception of a perfor- mance regime in the 1980’s. One notable challenge is establishing consistencies (such as a common performance language) in a complex system that is constantly evolving with many stakeholders. He also noted the difficulty in moving from a focus on outputs to outcomes and the positive effects that central coordination has had in moving government forward on the re- sults agenda. Lessons from the Performance and Planning Exchange 2017 Symposium