Mecklenburg County hosted twelve staff and elected officials from
Adams County, Colorado on February 15 and briefed them on Mecklenburg's nationally-known performance management system called Managing for Results (M4R). Adams County is researching various types of performance management systems and has singled out Mecklenburg County's system for an on-site visit.
Managing for Results was created by Mecklenburg County in the early 2000's as a way to objectively judge whether the many programs, services and initiatives the County offers are actually successful and warrant ongoing funding. M4R starts with a community vision adopted by our elected officials which states "Mecklenburg County will be a place of pride and choice for people to live, work and recreate." The Board of County Commissioners then adopted a list of 14 elements that it feels will help the County achieve the vision. They are:
- Affordable Housing
- Celebrate Diversity
- Preserve History/Landmarks
- Community Health
- Community Safety
- Protecting Natural Resources
- Senior Citizens
- Economic Development
- Education and Literacy
- Arts & Cultural Activity
- Government Stewardship
- Transportation/Transit
- Partnerships
- Parks/Open Space
From the vision elements, staff created and the Board adopted a Community and Corporate Scorecard that
sets desired results for each of the scorecard goals and specifies how to measure the success of each.
Mecklenburg County's M4R program has been recognized with an Award for Excellence from the Balanced Scorecard Institute, Multiple Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties, a Performance Management Award from the Performance Institute and many others. County staff has presented the M4R story and consulted with dozens of other counties all over the country. View a presentation about M4R staff made to the BOCC at its FY2014 Strategic Planning Conference.