Public sector performance management part 1 - Target practice - Getting the most out of public employees - through effective performance management, largely based on meeting targets - has been a preoccupation of Conservative and Labour administrations alike for more than 10 years. The current Government's strategy for managing high performance across the public services was set out in its Modernising government White Paper, launched in April 1999. In IRS Employment Trends 690, we examined this blueprint for public service modernisation in detail. Here, in the first part of a follow-up to that guide, we look at how 35 public service employers - including 20 local authorities and 10 NHS trusts - are managing high performance, both overall and in relation to individual employee contribution.