Exploring Academics’ Performance Management Experiences at a University of Technology in South Africa

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This study was designed to explore the academics’ experiences of the performance management system (PMS) at a university and to understand which of their performances enhanced the achievement of the university’s strategic goals. Furthermore, the study sought to establish the support required by the academics to achieve the performance as captured in their key performance indicators (KPIs) within the faculty. A qualitative research design was adopted using semi-structured, in-depth, individual interviews to collect data from 18 academics, coded L1 to L18. Interview questions revolved around the participants’ four KPIs, namely quality teaching and learning, research productivity, community engagement and participation in management activities. Through content data analysis, participants’ experiences were highlighted. It was revealed that PM at the institution revolved around pre-determined KPIs that were given to the academics in advance before the exercise. The four KPIs later came out as the key PM practises applied by the university to enhance the achievement of its strategic goals. It was also possible to establish the participants’ performance, the support given by the university and the gap between the participants’ performance and the institution’s expectations, as captured in the KPIs. It emerged that whilst the participants had the needed competencies to ensure quality teaching and learning, they also required, among others, a mechanism to assess the impact of teaching on the students’ performance. It further emerged that little was done in terms of research productivity; and that participants required enormous support from the university, and rewards to enable them to publish and supervise. Regarding community engagement and participation in administrative activities, participants indicated that it was more challenging due to pressing teaching loads. Based on the findings, recommendations to enhance all the identified KPIs were proposed.