MEASURING PERFORMANCE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: BETWEEN NECESSITY AND DIFFICULTY

Performance measurement (PM) in the public sector is indeed a necessity. PM has been introduced in many public organizations in order to ensure transparency of public decisions and the use of public funds and to boost performance. But in practice, this concept strikes many obstacles: defining performance in the public sector, identifying suitable performance indicators, implementation of a performance management system. A challenge, still present, is to identify the most suitable methods for monitoring and measuring performance, so do not give rise to speculative behavior among employees and managers. This paper presents the methods used in measuring performance in the public sector, as well as some drawbacks generated by these methods. The perverse effects of performance measurement in the public sector can take different forms, but their knowledge is useful in building an optimal system for managing and measuring the performance.