Maidstone Borough Council: Creating a new performance management system in house

Maidstone Borough Council covers a large district in Kent centred on the county town of Maidstone, combining a significant urban area with an extensive rural hinterland and strong links to London and the South East. The borough has a broadly working-age population of around 180,000.

The performance management function is part of the Information and Analytics Team which includes a senior data analyst, a service analyst, a performance and information analyst and a consultation and engagement officer. The team is located within the Policy, Transformation and Insight service area within the Strategy, Insight and Governance Directorate; one of three directorates reporting to the chief executive.

The council undertook a complete redesign of its corporate performance management system after the platform it had relied on for over a decade became increasingly costly, unreliable and poorly aligned with staff needs. Given the challenges and no suitable commercial alternative, the council chose to rethink performance management from first principles rather than renew its contract.

With encouragement and oversight through the Digital, Data and Transformation Board, this was approached as an opportunity to improve not only the technology but the wider culture and processes that surrounded performance. The redesigned approach aimed to create a system that was user‑centred, transparent, and aligned with the council’s updated Performance Management Framework (PMF). The updated PMF sets out performance management arrangements, roles and responsibilities, and places stronger emphasis on data quality, accountability and year‑round visibility. 

The council had already begun modernising its performance approach in the year prior to the system redesign by moving away from lengthy written committee reports and adopting a key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard format for monthly corporate performance reporting. 

The dashboard is complemented by annual performance reports. These provide a narrative account of the wider context, council outturn performance and benchmarking data for each of the council priorities, as well as visuals and infographics, encouraging robust discussions at Policy Advisory Committee and Cabinet meetings. 

The dashboard approach demonstrated the value of real‑time insight and reduced the burden on services, laying important foundations for the full redesign of the performance system. By the time development of the new platform began, the organisation had already experienced the benefits of clearer data presentation, faster interpretation and improved visibility of trends, all leading to a shift in performance conversations. This strengthened the case for a more comprehensive transformation of the performance process.

To deliver the new system, the council chose to use Microsoft 365 tools already available internally – such as SharePoint, Power Apps, Power Automate, Forms and Approvals – to build a bespoke, modern and automated performance platform. A small project team was formed, supported by a temporary backfill post to release capacity for development. Having up-front investment in additional capacity was crucial to the success of the project and was expected to be fully recouped within three years through the savings achieved by avoiding the current systems’ licence fees.

The project was guided by five core design principles which served as important guard rails to steer a comprehensive programme of work:

Simplicity and clarity: The project redesigned every part of the performance management workflow to be more simple, clear and intuitive. Button labels, form layouts and guidance were rewritten and reorganised to ensure that users could understand tasks immediately and complete them with confidence. High quality, intuitive design was seen as really important to help users, and attention was given to small details. This process is continuing in response to user feedback. The new system is evolving and changing dynamically. 

Automation first: The project prioritised the removal of manual steps wherever possible. Automated reminders, approvals, submissions and triggers helped ensure that performance tasks happened at the right time with minimal officer intervention. This reduced administrative burden and created more time for analysis and decision‑making. 

User‑centred design: Staff were involved throughout the redesign process, from early research to live testing, so their experience shaped the system’s development. The information and analytics team recruited a small number of volunteers from across the council who were on hand to test, provide honest feedback and constructive challenge. They stayed with the project team for the entire duration and were critical to its success. This collaborative approach strengthened trust and ownership, and staff described the final system as simple, clear and genuinely user‑friendly.

Iterative, agile development: The system was developed in phases. Features were tested, refined and retested through a soft launch and a series of post‑go‑live improvement cycles. This ensured the platform evolved in line with real‑world user needs and organisational priorities.

Culture change and support: The council recognised that technology alone would not embed performance; rather, that better technology would enable more meaningful performance management. Training sessions, webinars, demonstrations and step‑by‑step guidance were delivered to build confidence, clarity and engagement. This helped strengthen a culture where staff took greater responsibility for data quality and performance reporting.

The council hoped to achieve a more responsive and transparent system that saved money, reduced administrative burden and improved the experience of those using performance data. Early evidence showed that the new approach delivered these outcomes. 

Key impacts included:

Financial savings: The redesign avoided costly licence renewals, generating annual savings of more than £10,000, with full cost recovery of the temporary project post expected within three years.

Efficiency and capacity: Ninety per cent of performance updates were self‑returned, significantly reducing the need for chasing or manual support. This freed capacity in the Information and Analytics Team, allowing them to focus more on business intelligence that directly supports policy and decision‑making.

Improved user experience: Staff satisfaction increased by 30 per cent following the system launch. Feedback highlighted improved clarity, reduced duplication and a sense that user insight had meaningfully shaped design decisions. Indeed, staff described the new process as “the easiest and least painful it has ever been”. 

Enhanced data quality and control: A strengthened approvals process ensured KPI updates were reviewed more robustly. The clearer workflow helped reinforce expectations around data ownership and accuracy.

A scalable model: The approach would be replicable across other council services and potentially other local authorities.

Inevitably, the process created some challenges that had to be mitigated, including:

• Change fatigue – this was mitigated through extensive engagement and clear support materials.
• Data quality variation – this was addressed through training, approvals processes and clearer workflows.
• Pressure on staff time during build – this was supported by securing a temporary backfill post.

• Start with user research – understand what isn’t working before designing a solution.
• Involve staff throughout; this builds trust, improves culture, and leads to better design.
• Use automation to remove unnecessary manual work and free capacity for analysis.
• Leverage existing tools before looking to procure; internal solutions can be just as effective.
• Provide varied and accessible training to support adoption.
• Design reporting formats around audience needs — one size does not fit all.
• Build iteratively and test frequently; small improvements accumulate into major gains.

Carly Benville
Performance and Data Insights Manager
Maidstone Borough Council
[email protected]