The M4R business philosophy is to make management decisions and funding choices using quantifiable performance data.

M4R and Balanced Scorecard Timeline

2000

• October:  Harry Jones appointed as Mecklenburg County Manager

2001

• May:  Board adopts Mecklenburg Vision 2015
• July:  County Manager commits to Managing for Results (M4R) philosophy using balanced scorecard
• August:  County Manager reorganizes to create Planning & Evaluation Director position with County Manager's Office to manage developing and implementing balanced scorecard
• September:   County Manager contracts with Balanced Scorecard Institute to develop balanced scorecard for Mecklenburg County

2002

• January:  Board of County Commissioners adopts Community & Corporate Scorecard based on Mecklenburg Vision 2015
• March:  County Manager establishes Focus Area Leadership Teams to provide strategic oversight of Community & Corporate Scorecard's four focus areas
• April:  County conducts first employee climate survey, repeated annually, to collect data for Scorecard outcomes measurement
• July: Approved first eGovernment Strategic Plan that articulates the use of the Internet (and other automation) as a primary means of providing services efficiently and effectively
• September: County publishes first Performance Report using Community & Corporate Scorecard, continued annually
• November 2002:  County Manager reorganizes to create Office of Strategic Organizational Improvement (SOI), dedicating staff and other resources to institutionalize and consolidate strategic planning, budgeting, performance management and organizational development functions for the organization
• December: Community & Corporate Scorecard cascaded to department/agency level

2003

• May:  County Manager's Recommended Budget includes $21.9 million on cost efficiencies and service reductions based on M4R prioritization
• August: Balanced scorecard reporting software purchased
• September – December:  Board conducts first Program Review of all 267 County-funded services.  Services were reviewed by Scorecard desired outcome rather than by department – requires manually recalculating funding by desired outcomes and programs aligned with outcomes
• October:  County establishes consistent customer service philosophy and standards throughout the organization; communicates and trains employees on standards; assigns accountability to department directors for customer satisfaction
• December: Balanced scorecard reporting software implemented

2004

• January:  Board conducts prioritization of funded services using Program Review data – placing 50 program categories in 7 priority levels, establishing an annual priority setting approach
• February – September: County Manager's Office and Human Resources Department conducts revision to job classification system to implement broadband approach, while also conducting a survey of market pay to determine the average pay in the market for each job classification
• May:  County Manager's Recommended Budget proposes pay-for-performance compensation approach, approved by Board in June
• May:  County Manager commits to continuing Program Review annually at service level
• June:  Board approves establishing Technology Reserve to be funded annually by the value of one-half cent of the property tax rate
• June:  Board approves annual budget based on priority categories established in January
• July:  County Manager announces Managing for Results Agenda for change focusing on:
  • Strategic Human Capital Management
  • eGovernment
  • Performance Budgeting
  • Strategic Collaborative Leadership
  • Competing for Results
• August: County adopts and modifies U.S. OMB Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to conduct annual Program Review
• September:  County conducts first customer/stakeholder satisfaction survey, repeated annually, to collect data for Scorecard outcomes measurement
• November:  County Manager reorganizes governance structure around focus areas, naming department directors to focus area leadership team that report to County Manager's Executive Team; clarifies roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for focus area leadership teams.  All department directors report to Executive Team as a group.
• December:  Department scorecards cascaded to division level

2005

• February:  Established corporate governance structure for consolidated/shared services model for IT services and prioritizing IT investments
• May:  County Manager's Recommended Budget proposes implementing market pay for market performance approach to employee compensation, requiring additional investment to increase the pay of 49% of workforce to pay at average of market for each job; approved by Board in June
• June:  GIS services consolidated to form self-direct work team separate from any County department, marking the first enterprise service not aligned with any specific department

• December:  Department director work plans and department scorecards become one-in-the-same, formally aligning accountabilities to scorecard desired results and performance measures.

2006

• March: Consolidated human resources governance and resources using a shared services business model
• March:  County Manager identified four organizational areas that should be managed corporately:
  • Strategic planning/budgeting
  • Technology investment and IT services
  • Human capital management
  • Public information/communications
• May: County Manager's Recommended Budget proposes establishing a Fleet Reserve to be funded by the value of one-quarter cent on the property tax rate, and funding the Capital Reserve at one-quarter cent on the property tax rate (patterned after the Technology Reserve) to ensure sustained funding for these business imperatives; approved by Board in June
• July:  Diversity Management Plan approved, linking diversity performance goals and measures directly with three of the goals and measures on the Community & Corporate Scorecard
• December: Board establishes strategic priorities for next three years, based on Scorecard performance regarding desired outcomes

2007

• June: Board adopts and publishes three-year strategic business plan (FY08 – 10) and adopts FY2008 budget
• December: Employee and Organizational Development strategy and structure approved to build and expand the County's capacity for creativity and innovation by using system-thinking approach for employee learning, team development, leadership development and organization development.

2008

• February: County Manager's initial M4R Agenda achieved; County Manager calls for new M4R Agenda for change to be developed
• July:  Consolidated resources to manage public information/communications corporately; reorganized governance (planning, budgeting and performance management) structure around Scorecard focus area to align communications services with focus area priorities and strategies