Performance management as a mediator for work engagement and employment relationships in the public sector in South Africa

Godfrey Maake,Cecilia M Schultz,Cornelia P Harmse

doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v19i0.1507

Abstract

Orientation: To improve service delivery to its citizens, the South African public sector should aim to improve employees’ performance by implementing effective performance management that would impact positively on work engagement and employment relationships.Research purpose: The primary objective of this study was to determine whether performance management could be a mediator for work engagement and employment relationships in the public sector in South Africa.Motivation for the study: The success of the public sector relies primarily on performance management that strengthens work engagement and employment relationships, which in turn positively influence employee performance. Managers need to understand the influence of performance management on work engagement and employment relationships.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative approach was employed. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select 400 permanent employees with more than 5 years of experience at job levels 1–12 in eight national departments based in Gauteng. A structured questionnaire was utilised as a data collection method in this study. The questionnaire for the study was divided into four sections and consisted of 74 Likert-scale questions.Main findings: This study showed a moderate correlation between performance management and work engagement and a strong correlation between performance management and employment relationships. This study indicated that performance management was indeed a mediator between work engagement and employment relationships.Practical/managerial implications: Management should ensure that employees understand the function of performance management as a whole, display a positive attitude towards the implementation of performance management, ensure that employees’ Key Performance Indicator (KPIs) adequately reflect their areas of responsibility, motivate the use of performance management through the reward structure and finally, training and orientation on performance management should also be provided to newly appointed and existing staff members to ensure strong work engagement and good employment relationships.Contribution/value-add: Contribution of the study to knowledge and practice surrounding performance management, work engagement and employment relationships. The contribution of this study is to impress on managers and leaders the influence of performance management on work engagement and employment relationships.

Highlights

Mafini and Pooe (2014) highlight the many challenges associated with underperformance in the South African public sector, and in 2016, the National Treasury admitted that the service delivery provided by South African government departments was below par (National Treasury, 2016)
One-tailed and two-tailed tests were performed to determine whether differences were evident between performance management, work engagement and employment relationships
A moderate correlation of 0.423 was found between the performance management and work engagement totals, and the correlation between the employment relationships and work engagement totals was 0.387, both with the significance level set at 0.01. It can be concluded from the correlation analysis results that a moderate correlation existed between performance management and work engagement and a strong correlation existed between performance management and employment relationships

Summary

Introduction

The South African public sector is frequently criticised for not rendering quality services to the citizens of the country. Mafini and Pooe (2014) highlight the many challenges associated with underperformance in the South African public sector, and in 2016, the National Treasury admitted that the service delivery provided by South African government departments was below par (National Treasury, 2016). Mafini and Pooe (2014) highlight the many challenges associated with underperformance in the South African public sector, and in 2016, the National Treasury admitted that the service delivery provided by South African government departments was below par (National Treasury, 2016). West and Blackman (2015) argued that improvements are required from all government departments. These improvements may be achieved in part by ensuring that the performance of employees at all levels of the organisation is aligned with organisational objectives, which requires the effective implementation of performance management. Performance management has been the subject of much research, primarily because employees are regarded as the most critical element in any system, as it is their behaviour that determines the level of achievement of organisational objectives (West & Blackman, 2015). Performance management has been the subject of much research, primarily because employees are regarded as the most critical element in any system, as it is their behaviour that determines the level of achievement of organisational objectives (West & Blackman, 2015). Maimela and Samuel (2016) reported that performance management can have a huge influence on altering employee principles, attitudes and behaviour, and that this can, in turn, influence the culture of the organisation. Mbonambi (2016) suggested that making performance management part of the daily conversation can lead to better outcomes and performance throughout the organisation

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Discussion

Conclusion