Outcome-Based Vocational Rehabilitation: Measuring Valuable Results

This case study illustrates one of the many possible ways to implement Kaufman’s Organizational Elements Model (1992, 2000) for identifying and aligning organizational results and the means to achieve them. The model was applied in the context of a needs assessment effort between the Florida State University’s Office for Needs Assessment & Planning (ONAP) and the Vocational Rehabilitation Program at Florida Division of Blind Services (FDBS). Conducting this study and finding data that had such radical implications for decisionmaking was life altering for many of the stakeholders, who up until that point were heavily focused on processes and resources, or at best, on Micro-level results. Appropriate actions were taken to improve the performance system, but overall, one of the most significant contributions of this project was a new-found focus on results, valuable results, and appropriate measures of success. Introduction All organizations are after results that, whether organizational members consciously understand or not, should be aligned at all levels of the organization. Kaufman’s Organizational Elements Model (OEM) (Kaufman, 1992, 2000) can be used as a framework for identifying and aligning results at all levels, with the primary purpose of ensuring that the energy and other precious resources an organization invests will ultimately deliver worthwhile outcomes in the most efficient and effective way. Without taking the time to do this, organizations run the risk of supporting freeloaders, that is, programs, projects, or activities within the organization that are not linked to any worthy Outcome and add zero value while consuming organizational resources that might be better invested elsewhere. Creating a roadmap of useful results, along with the means that support them not only lights the road ahead of us, but also provides us with a framework for both a needs assessment and an evaluation. With this in place, we can readily identify organizational and performance gaps that direct our selection of worthwhile activities and resources, as well as later determine whether these were in fact the right solutions. Results, however, cannot always be directly measured and may require the identification of metrics that indicate whether or not such results have been achieved. We are talking about measurability here, and the notion of making sound decisions based on relevant data linked to measurable indicators of Performance Improvement Quarterly, 18(3) pp. 65-75