United States Chief Performance Officer
Encyclopedia
Chief Performance Officer of the United States (CPO) is a position in the Office of Management and Budget (within the Executive Office of the President of the United States
), first announced on January 7, 2009 by then President-elect Barack Obama
. The new post concentrates on the federal budget and government reform. Obama selected Nancy Killefer
to be the first CPO/Deputy OMB Director for Management, but before the Senate could vote on her confirmation, she withdrew her nomination, citing a "personal tax issue" as a likely distraction for the Obama administration.
Jeffrey Zients
was nominated as CPO on April 18, 2009 and confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 2009.
The title of and role definition for the "chief performance officer" originated with the publication of the META Group (now Gartner
) research note #AD755 entitled DW Staffing: Part 2--Fresh Hot Roles (21 July 1999) by Douglas B. Laney.
In this research note Mr. Laney, then heading research and advisory services for the firm's data warehousing and business intelligence practice, defined the role as thus:
"Analogous to the Chief Operations Officer (COO), who is responsible for running the business, the Chief Performance Officer (CPO) is the executor of efforts to analyze the business. Together the COO and CPO coordinate in capturing and leveraging business performance data to affect improvements and innovations in business operations."
He continues:
"In short, the CPO is responsible for the following activities:
Throughout 1999-2004 Mr. Laney also presented at numerous industry conferences on the topic, and consulted to enterprises and government organization globally on the formation of the CPO or similar roles.
In 2003 the title and role were popularized in the book Chief Performance Officer: Measuring What Matters, Managing What Can be Measured by Tony Politano. In the book and subsequent publications 2004-2009 a methodology and set of techniques for CPOs are outlined and have become the standard by which CPOs are defined. Since the publication of the book Mr. Politano has since lectured, keynoted and made Television appearances as an authority on the subject.
Several large corporations such as Yahoo, Wyndham Hotels, City of Chicago and NEC have created CPO positions.
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
), first announced on January 7, 2009 by then President-elect Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. The new post concentrates on the federal budget and government reform. Obama selected Nancy Killefer
Nancy Killefer
Nancy Killefer is an American government consultant and political figure. She was nominated for the Chief Performance Officer presidential cabinet position in the Obama administration in 2009. In 2005 the District of Columbia government had filed a more than $900 tax lien on her home for failure...
to be the first CPO/Deputy OMB Director for Management, but before the Senate could vote on her confirmation, she withdrew her nomination, citing a "personal tax issue" as a likely distraction for the Obama administration.
Jeffrey Zients
Jeffrey Zients
Jeffrey "Jeff" D. Zients is an American CEO, management consultant and entrepreneur. On July 30, 2010, he was named acting director of the Office of Management & Budget. President Obama appointed him to the new position of United States Chief Performance Officer...
was nominated as CPO on April 18, 2009 and confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 2009.
The title of and role definition for the "chief performance officer" originated with the publication of the META Group (now Gartner
Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is an information technology research and advisory firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. It was known as GartnerGroup until 2001....
) research note #AD755 entitled DW Staffing: Part 2--Fresh Hot Roles (21 July 1999) by Douglas B. Laney.
In this research note Mr. Laney, then heading research and advisory services for the firm's data warehousing and business intelligence practice, defined the role as thus:
"Analogous to the Chief Operations Officer (COO), who is responsible for running the business, the Chief Performance Officer (CPO) is the executor of efforts to analyze the business. Together the COO and CPO coordinate in capturing and leveraging business performance data to affect improvements and innovations in business operations."
He continues:
"In short, the CPO is responsible for the following activities:
- Negotiating and establishing business performance metrics, formulae and thresholds at various levels of the enterprise
- Assimilating industry benchmarks or other external data against which to gauge business performance
- Recommending a set of performance-based actions for the COO to implement
- Prioritizing and budgeting enterprise and line-of-business strategic performance initiatives
- Reporting strategic performance initiative progress and results (returns) to the executive team
- Implementing the components needed to collect, assimilate, analyze, and deliver business performance management data."
Throughout 1999-2004 Mr. Laney also presented at numerous industry conferences on the topic, and consulted to enterprises and government organization globally on the formation of the CPO or similar roles.
In 2003 the title and role were popularized in the book Chief Performance Officer: Measuring What Matters, Managing What Can be Measured by Tony Politano. In the book and subsequent publications 2004-2009 a methodology and set of techniques for CPOs are outlined and have become the standard by which CPOs are defined. Since the publication of the book Mr. Politano has since lectured, keynoted and made Television appearances as an authority on the subject.
Several large corporations such as Yahoo, Wyndham Hotels, City of Chicago and NEC have created CPO positions.