Fuente: Sitio Buenas Prácticas Holanda

 

http://www.benchmarkinginthepublicsector.nl/columns/archive/column_hilgersom

 

“BENCHMARKING@WORK

 

 

Benchmarking in practice: the risk of comparing apples and oranges

Benchmarking as an instrument is very popular, which is logical considering that the government is expected to pursue a transparent policy and produce measurable achievements. Benchmarking is quickly seen as the means to make apparently obscure policy transparent while at the same time making comparisons possible. It is important that the government shows her citizens what it stands for and what it can deliver, and that it can be held responsible for its performance. Benchmarking can play a role here.
If benchmarking is to be worthwhile then it must be of sufficient quality. A quick comparison of a few numbers from an annual report is therefore no guarantee for correct conclusions. To make a good comparison it is important that it be based on comparable definitions. It is generally not possible to judge this from most annual reports.
For a proper comparison of the figures it is important to know the context in which the figures must be interpreted. This is exactly what often goes wrong with benchmarking in practice. The wrong conclusions can be drawn if one only examines the figures: Quantity, speed of performance and efficiency are usually guiding concepts. The quality aspect is generally quickly forgotten.
The Social Services and Employment Projects (Department SZW) in The Hague, which I manage, attaches great importance to quality. The means that we not only issue benefits to those entitled but simultaneously dedicate ourselves to leading people to work. A solid policy on poverty and fraud are also matters we feel very strongly about. Interviews with clients have an appropriate quality and duration. If, in a benchmark between municipalities, only the length of the interviews with clients would be compared, without taking the quality into account, the wrong conclusions would soon be drawn.
These aspects are not, or are insufficiently, taken into account in (the presentation of) the conclusions of benchmarks in which the comparison of absolute figures is central. In my opinion the way that benchmarks are used in practice does not do justice to the complexity of reality. This leads to situations in which apples and oranges are compared. From my point of view benchmarking is therefore only worthwhile if applied with nuance. The world around us is namely a lot more complicated than some benchmarks would like us to believe.
José Hilgersom
General Manager Social Services and Employment Projects, The Hague
30 October 2002