How do employees learn from performance measures? Evidence from a local government entity

Abstract

AbstractWe examine how employees learn from a performance measurement system. Employing the social construction of reality theory, we analyse how actors constructed knowledge in their specific setting. Qualitative research within a local government entity involved interviews, observation of meetings and examination of archival records. We find that the process of individual learning from a performance measurement system is based around aligning varying episodic experiences of individuals at differing levels. The outcome of these findings is that learning by individuals is a socio‐technical process in which the use of performance measures is embedded in everyday thinking of the social world examined.