Productivity, performance indicators and motivation: A case study in the UK’s non-profit cultural heritage sector

Executive Summary

Topic: The non-profit cultural heritage sector is made up of museums, archives, and other cultural organisations with historic collections. Performance indicators have the potential to play a role in focusing work, motivating the workforce, and making most effective use of resources, but there are not always used to their best advantage.

Research Question: What factors give performance indicators motivational power in the non-profit cultural heritage sector?

Ethical approval: The University of Hertfordshire granted approval for the research in December 2023.  Protocol number BUS/SF/UH/06063.

Method: The study adopted a mixed method approach gathering data from interviews, an online survey, and a workshop with practitioners. Data was collected over four months between January and April 2024. Paid staff and volunteers were included in the sample to reflects the nature of the workforce in this sector.

• Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners based in the southeast of England. The KBAC Matrix provided structure for the iterative inductive thematic analysis. KBAC stands for, knowledge, business, audiences, and collections, four core functions of all cultural heritage organisations.
• The online survey asked questions about the respondents and what they thought of performance indicators. It also used 12 questions from the Work Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Scale, which is informed by Self Determination Theory. A statistical approach was used to analyse the 132 completed responses.  This included comparisons with other data sets and correlation analysis.
• The research findings were shared with nine practitioners who attended an onsite workshop on 24th April 2024. They tested a number of planning activities, including ones that explored value chains.

Findings:

• This sector produces a range of outputs and outcomes. The interviewees identified 25 different products.
• There was considerable variation in the nature, number, and use of performance indicators in the interviewees’ organisations. Between them the interviewees identified 62 different indicators.  The closest thing to a common indicator was onsite visitors.
• There appears to be a tendency to use performance indicators to monitor activities related to the audience / users and the business of running the organisation more than activities related to collections and knowledge. The areas that are most heavily monitored are not necessarily the most important products.
• Most survey respondents (79%) strongly agreed or agreed that performance indicators were helpful tools in the non-profit cultural heritage sector and a similar number (76%) said they were personally motivated by data that showed progress towards a target.
• The survey showed high levels of intrinsic self-determined motivation. At the same time extrinsic factors were also important for paid employees. The levels in this sector may be different in some areas but the indication that individuals may be motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors simultaneously, concurs with similar data collected from other sectors.
• There appeared to be a weak negative correlation between an individual’s self-determined motivation and the degree to which they are motivated by progress towards a target. However, the survey did not provide enough evidence to draw firm conclusions about the relationship between motivational styles and attitudes towards performance indicators in this sector.
• Productivity in the non-profit cultural heritage sector is a complex concept. Museums, archives, and other organisations in the sector produce multiple outputs and outcomes. Some of the most important ones have no market value and are difficult to measure in a meaningful and unambiguous way. It is similarly challenging to quantify the inputs which, in addition to financial investment, include volunteer contributions, knowledge and the historic collections.
• Traditional linear value chains do not accurately describe how museum, archives and other non-profit cultural heritage organisations create value. This report introduces the Value Loop as a better model.

Practical Implications: The report suggests five ways to improve the motivational power of performance indicators in the non-profit cultural heritage sector.

• Define and agree the desired outputs and outcomes. The KBAC Matrix can help identify, discuss, and make decisions about the priority products and create performance indicators to monitor them.
• Communicate to ensure that the delivery team understand the aims and are aware of relevant performance indicators.
• Involve the workforce in creating and setting performance indicators. This will help those with high intrinsic motivation to internalise the goals.
• Use extrinsic motivational tools, for example recognising and celebrating success. High levels of intrinsic motivation in the workforce does not mean that is the only relevant type of motivation.
• Use performance indicators that provide the right kind of information. The best indicator will depend on the purpose. The Value Loop can help identify the area(s) that needs attention which will help make the most of resources.

Authors: Susan Davies, Jyoti Choudrie, Matthew Coates