Benchmarking Analysis
Benchmarking analysis is a highly effective tool that helps
decision-makers interpret the meaning of community survey
data. If 64% of residents are satisfied with the condition of
city streets, is that good or bad? Without comparative data,
it is difficult to know. ETC Institute maintains national
and regional benchmarking data for more than 70 types
of local governmental services, including the following:
• Public safety (police, fire, ambulance)
• Maintenance/public works
• Planning
• Communications
• Code enforcement
• Transportation and traffic flow
• Parks and recreation
• Utilities (water, sewer, etc.)
• Public health services
• Library services
Benchmarking data can help local governments understand
how their results compare to similar communities. For
example, 78% of the residents in the City of Oklahoma City
recently rated the City of Oklahoma City as a “good place to
raise children.” Without comparative data, city leaders might
have wondered whether 78% was an acceptable rating. As
the chart below shows, 78% is actually a relatively high
rating for this issue. Based on the results of national
research conducted by ETC Institute, 71% of all U.S. residents
rated the community where they live as a “good place to raise
children.” Among residents who live in cities with a
population of more than 500,000 residents, only 67% of
those surveyed think their community is a good place to
raise children.
Results from ETC Institute’s benchmarking database are used
by elected officials and city administrators in more than 130
communities to set and monitor progress toward a wide
range of organizational goals.
ETC Institute's experience with customer satisfaction research
for city and county governments provides our clients with a
unique capability for interpreting the meaning of survey
results. Without benchmarking data, it would be easy to
make mistakes in the interpretation of survey results. A
good example of the value of benchmarking was evident in
Miami-Dade County’s 2005 Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Without benchmarking data, officials in Miami-Dade County
might have thought the County was doing a poor job of
maintaining city streets because only 48% of those surveyed
were satisfied with County efforts to maintain streets
(see chart below). Compared to other large communities
in the United States, ETC Institute’s benchmarking data
showed that Miami-Dade County was actually performing
very well. The national average for satisfaction with the
maintenance of street among residents living in
communities with a population of more than 350,000 was
38%, which meant that Miami-Dade County rated 10%
above the national average for large communities. The
dots on the chart below show the ratings for Miami-Dade
County. The percentage to the left of the horizontal bar
shows the lowest rating among 30 large cities that are
included in ETC Institute’s database; the percentage to
the right of the horizontal bar shows the highest rating
among this group of cities; the vertical bar in the center
marks the national average based on the results of a
national survey that is administered annually by ETC
Institute.
Our research has shown that cultural norms will
influence customer satisfaction survey results on city
services regardless of how well the service is delivered.
For example, residents almost always rate the maintenance
of city streets lower than the quality of fire services even in
communities that have good streets and major problems with
fire services. Without benchmarking data, it is difficult to
isolate the influence that cultural norms have on public
perceptions about local governmental services, which can
lead to faulty conclusions and recommendations.
Benchmarking Performance Over Time
The chart below shows an example of a composite customer
satisfaction index that is used by the City of Olathe to track its
overall performance in more than 50 categories of service
delivery. The index works like the Consumer Price Index
(CPI). The index is a function of the City’s composite
performance in 53 areas relative to the Base Year of 2000.
Changes in the index from one year to the next shows how
overall satisfaction with city services has changed relative
to the base year. The data is compared to regional trends
which are shown as a composite index for the Kansas City
region. This allows the City of Olathe to see how its
performance changes compared to other cities in the area.
ETC Institute can also provide a similar index for the
Cities and Counties that would allow the City or County to track its
performance against other large cities in the United States.
