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Congreso as a high-performing, continuously learning organization by Dominique Bernardo, Vice President of Quality Assurance As a high-performing organization, Congreso makes decisions based on fidelity to its business plan strategy and reliance on comprehensive data. These basic principles have provided Congreso with a road map that has clear markers to ensure that it continues driving forward in its mission to strengthen Latino communities through education and employment. Prior to 2007, the agency was progressive in its application of ETO software across diverse services in a multi-service organization, but the lack of central goals and strategy limited the agency in its ability to aggregate its program outcomes to determine an agency-level impact. Specifically, Congreso tracked multiple outcomes for various programs that did not roll up to paint a cohesive picture. In 2007, Congreso developed a Theory of Change and a comprehensive business plan that outlined clear goals for the agency along with a standard “menu” of outcomes for which the agency’s services would be accountable. The goals centered on client self sufficiency through education, employment, and management of barriers to these goals. The menu of outcomes, which includes increased parenting knowledge, graduation from high school, and building of financial assets (among others), represents the script for Congreso to articulate the collective impact of its diverse programs serving more than 16,000 people annually. Congreso had clearly laid out its vision, but it would require more than just good intentions to achieve it. With clear goals and intended impact outlined, Congreso then set up the needed infrastructure to ensure that quality data would be collected and used to measure its impact and goal progress. The Data & Evaluation department, which originally consisted of one Data & Evaluation Manager, grew in size and responsibility so the Manager could focus on real-time reporting and building out ETO to measure the new goals while his staff focused on technical assistance and training for the 150+ users of ETO. In addition, Congreso dedicated the Vice President of Quality Assurance to oversee this department, which translated to time spent developing and then monitoring outcome measurements as well as performance management tools for the new vision. Overall, the Data & Evaluation Department, which is independent from agency services and reports directly to the agency President, focuses primarily on:
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With confidence that adequate systems were in place to ensure accurate and complete data collection, Congreso then began to utilize the data to ask questions about service quality; such questions initially came from the Data team but are coming more frequently from program staff as time goes on. On a regular basis, data reports relating to clients served, referrals made, and outcomes measured are reviewed at various levels, including a bi-monthly management team meeting and a monthly agency outcomes team meeting. These recurring meetings are designed to foster dialogue around the data, what it means, and what we should be doing differently. Aside from ongoing review of data, Congreso’s most ambitious endeavor to date as a high performing organization relates to its Supervisor Performance Management system. In 2009, in an effort to provide more support to Client Managers and to ensure Supervisors were reviewing staff efforts in ETO, Congreso launched Supervisor Performance Management Guidelines for client manager supervisors. On a monthly basis, these supervisors conduct a comprehensive supervision which involves an on-line review of the Client Manager efforts and client outcomes, and a rating of the “strength” of the caseload based on compliance and client achievements. The tool developed in ETO is intended to serve as the basis for an ongoing dialogue between supervisor and supervisee that is based on data and ultimately seeks to improve client services. As usage of the guidelines increases, with a goal of 100% at the direct Client Manager Supervisor level, Congreso will report on any qualitative and quantitative improvements that can be measured. In summary, Congreso continues to evolve as a high-performing organization, consistently looking for ways to better use data at all levels of the agency to inform services and aid staff in their daily work. Its strategic focus combined with prioritization of data is key in its mission-driven work. Currently Congreso continues to focus on acculturating staff to the high-performing environment. Stay tuned as Congreso continues to embrace innovative ways of collecting, measuring, and using data to demonstrate impact!
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