Beyond Check-the-Box Metrics: Using Jobs to Be Done to Demonstrate Real Program Impact

Feb 11

Federal agencies don't just struggle with performance improvement - they often find themselves trapped in a cycle of measuring what's easy rather than what matters. While tracking metrics like application volumes and disbursement rates is necessary, these measurements alone rarely translate into meaningful progress on mission-critical outcomes.

The Jobs to Be Done framework, pioneered by Clayton Christensen and widely adopted by leading private sector organizations like Procter & Gamble and Intuit, provides a powerful lens for understanding what customers truly value beyond surface-level transactions. While private sector firms use JTBD to drive product / service innovation and market growth, we've found it equally valuable in helping federal agencies uncover the deeper mission impacts they need to deliver and the means to measure progress against the same.

The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework, when combined with robust logic modeling, cuts through this complexity to reveal the true pathways to impact.

Drawing from our extensive work across federal agencies, we've found that the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework, when combined with robust logic modeling, cuts through this complexity to reveal the true pathways to impact. This isn't just theory - we've implemented this approach to help agencies including State Department, USDA, and Department of Transportation refine their policy and strategy frameworks and develop sophisticated measurement systems that capture real progress against the same.

Let's look at one example to make this real. Recently, we worked with a federal agricultural agency struggling to demonstrate the impact of their programs supporting underserved farming communities. Their existing metrics focused primarily on inputs and activities - dollars disbursed, applications processed, and technical assistance hours provided.

By applying JTBD, we uncovered what truly mattered:

Functional: Establish sustainable farming operations that can support their families

Emotional: Feel confident in navigating complex agricultural programs and financing

Social: Be recognized as legitimate business owners within their farming communities

Circumstantial: Overcome historical barriers to land access and agricultural resources

These insights led us to develop a comprehensive logic model that mapped the entire journey from inputs to lasting impact.

Rather than just tracking program activities, we created measurement chains that captured progress across five distinct farming stages:

Starting farmers building fundamental business and technical capabilities
Maintaining farmers achieving sustainable operations and resilience
Improving farmers' expanding market presence and optimizing productivity
Exiting farmers executing successful generational transitions

The logic model enabled us to design metrics that captured the following:

Knowledge gains in critical areas like sustainable farming practices and business management

Behavioral changes demonstrating the application of new capabilities

Concrete outcomes showing improved market participation and operational sustainability

Long-term impacts on community economic health and agricultural sector equity

The result? The agency now has a measurement system that:

Demonstrates clear linkages between program activities and mission outcomes

Captures both near-term progress and long-term impact

Provides actionable insights for program improvement

Supports evidence-based resource allocation

Tells a compelling story of program value to stakeholders, enabling tangible, outcomes and impact reporting to Congress

This comprehensive approach to measurement doesn't just satisfy reporting requirements - it drives genuine program improvement and helps ensure federal investments deliver meaningful results for underserved farming communities.