Demonstrating the value of a community support organisations (CSOs), can be challenging. Measuring community impact and client outcomes beyond “numbers through the door” can provide an understanding of the value of CSOs to consumers, the public and Government.
One way in which outcomes can be measured is through considering the value provided by a service to the public. Public value (PV) is a framework which has been used as a vessel for understanding the activities of Government and clarifying policy and service delivery (O'Flynn, 2007). In essence, “public value creation is the process of adding value to public sector organisations through the exercising of increased managerial autonomy” (Grant et al., 2014, p.18).
The value provided by CSOs could potentially be evaluated with this same framework which has previously served as a structure for health care improvement (Porter, 2010) to benefit all key stakeholders including individual consumers, organisations and Government. Government is typically responsible for creating an environment and resources to provide PV, while the organisation generates the social impact within the environment (Alford & Hughes, 2008).
Commonly PV has only been used as a governance tool for performance measurement (Alford & O'Flynn, 2009) and to determine decisions about budgets, policies and laws (Chapman, 2005), however, it is proposed that PV can be used to facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships and collaboration between Government and CSOs. The PV Framework has primarily been used in the public sector and to date there has been little application of the concept of PV to CSOs.
The PV Framework encourages managers to seek out opportunities for change that can increase value for money and improve services to the public within current resources (Moore, 2013). By understanding what the public need and providing services to fill any identified gaps PV is created; building trust between the community and Government or CSOs. Trust is at the centre of PV and fulfils the desire for freedom and security and the need for flexibility and control (Talbot, 2008).
This research project suggests that the concept of PV can be applied to CSOs as a tool for evaluating services and as a vessel for understanding the broader value these services provide beyond the services delivered. PV could be used as a quality improvement framework to provide increased service efficiency and quality, better outcomes for consumers and communities, and greater consumer confidence in Government health investments. This presentation will explore the potential use of PV by CSOs in the contemporary Australian social environment and seek feedback on whether a generic or specific service approach would be most useful when applying the PV framework in the private sector.
