Introduction
Welcome to the Performance App Methodology, where all the indicators and scoring information are detailed.
A consistent and clear methodology has been adopted to enable transparent tracking and communication of performance across the wide range of indicators in the app. This methodology will evolve based on feedback from across the organisation as the underlying indicators and data change.
All changes to this methodology are version-controlled on GitHub.
If you have questions, comments, or feedback on this methodology, please contact:
Jessica Murray: jessica.murray@undp.org
Emanuele Faja: emanuele.faja@undp.org
You can access the Performance App via this link.
Rationale
Currently, Bureaus and Country Offices rely on numerous disparate dashboards for corporate requirements and lack a coherent approach for performance monitoring. Senior leadership also lacks a common lens to oversee organizational performance.
This makes it difficult to connect the dots, make decisions, and prioritize needed areas of improvement and support.
As a reflection of this, in 2022, the “Means of Implementation” Taskforce of the First 100 Day Plan recommended as a priority the development of a new corporate approach to country office oversight, capacity and performance. The Means of Implementation action plan endorsed by the Administrator calls on UNDP to:
"Design and develop one corporate performance tool for monitoring Country Office oversight, capacity and performance, building from what UNDP established in response to the UNDP GEF 2020 audit and other good regional practices."
The Performance App is designed to address these top-down and bottom-up organizational needs by bringing together KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) from various systems and tools across UNDP, organized around five key performance areas:
Impact: Is UNDP achieving impact, and are we effectively delivering sustainable development results?
Accountability: Is UNDP accountable at all levels for how we deliver and for upholding the rules and standards we have set for ourselves, on which partners rely?
Efficiency: Is UNDP efficient in its operations, and are we a financially sustainable organization at all levels?
Values: Is UNDP adhering to our values, and are we a trusted partner to uphold those values?
People: Are UNDP’s staff empowered and engaged in their work and able to act in a manner that aligns with UNDP’s expectations?
The Performance App is only possible by leveraging the previous work to consolidate the legacy UNDP systems and create a central Data Warehouse.
Traffic Light System
A traffic light system is used to classify indicator performance into straightforward categories:
Green: Corporate Target achieved
Yellow: Progress made, but target not yet achieved
Red: Limited to no progress against target, requires management attention
The thresholds for these categories are tailored to each indicator based on the metrics and data's nature. This provides an intuitive visual cue on each indicator's status.
Normalizing to 100
In addition, all indicators are converted into normalised scores on a scale of 0 to 100. This puts indicators with differing units and targets on the same standardised scale, allowing aggregation and comparisons.
This normalised score is specific to that indicator and allows it to be plotted on a consistent scale of 0-100. The overall index score is calculated by averaging the normalised scores across the individual indicators
The advantages of this standardised methodology include:
Enables quick visual comprehension of status through colour coding
Normalises varied indicators for aggregation, analysis, and layering.
Provides an intuitive index for overall performance tracking
Allows performance comparisons across units and categories
Simplifies communicating progress to diverse audiences
On Aggregation
A common pitfall when aggregating performance data from country and regional units to the global level is masking underperformance within averages. This "aggregation trap" occurs when strong performance in some units compensates for weak performance in others, resulting in an overly optimistic global average. Everything looks green, and senior leadership needs to figure out where to focus attention.
To avoid this, the Performance App methodology takes the following approaches:
Global indicator scores are calculated as true global averages across all countries rather than averages of regional aggregates, which can lead to variations in country-level results.
Indicator drill-down functionality allows disaggregated analysis of country and regional data. Users can identify areas of weak performance despite strong overall averages.
Minimum thresholds for the traffic light categories (e.g., red below a certain number) ensure that units with significant underperformance cannot be hidden by compensating high scores elsewhere.
Trend data is analysed at the country and regional level for insights on changing performance patterns.
Qualitative assessments supplement quantitative data to explain contextual performance factors.
By using actual global averages, preserving disaggregation, applying absolute threshold levels, incorporating trends and adding qualitative insights, the Performance App methodology aims to avoid obscuring performance variations across locations and units. This provides a more accurate picture to inform management and enable targeted improvements.
The UNDP Global score is calculated as a simple average of the scores of the five key areas. There is no set reporting period—all scores are automatically updated as the underlying data sets are updated in the UNDP Data Warehouse.
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