Performance Management Principles & Practices

Performance management is most valuable when it helps leaders understand what is working (or what is not), why results are changing (or why they are not), and what decisions should follow. This section establishes the principles and practices that guide how the City of San Diego approaches performance management and measurement, how it connects performance data to strategy, services, equity, budgeting, and continuous improvement. Rather than treating it as just a reporting requirement, the City’s Performance Management Framework recognizes performance information as critical for learning, accountability, transparency, and sound decision-making.

How this Section is Organized

The section is organized around two connected layers: principles and practices. Principles describe the core beliefs and decision rules that guide performance management across the City. Practices describe how those principles are put into action through roles, routines, reporting standards, KPI governance, department responsibilities, and connections to broader initiatives such as the Citywide Comprehensive Performance Report (CCPR) and outcomes-based budgeting.

Performance management principles have been grouped into four themes that are accompanied by an explicit value statement and help to answer a key performance management question.

Performance management practices have been grouped by role to highlight the duties of each key group and where responsibilities begin and end. These roles include: the City Council, City executive leadership, City departments, and the Performance & Analytics Department.