Abstract
The implementation of Performance Management (PM) in an institution can come with barriers that affect its success rate. The aim of the study was to assess the perceptions and attitudes of staff towards the implementation of PM at a higher education institution. The research was undertaken at a higher education institution (HEI) in South Africa where employee performance suffered as a result of PM implementation challenges within the institution. The research study was exploratory and employed mixed methods, that is; quantitative and qualitative research methods. A survey questionnaire was administered to groups of university employees drawn through stratified random sampling. The strata groups were academics, administrators, and senior executive managers. Hundred questionnaires were distributed with eighty-three questionnaires returned. In qualitative research, a heterogeneous focus group interview was scheduled which involved twelve people. Results from the questionnaires indicated that respondents perceived PM process as lacking transparency, unaligned to employee rewards and development lacks objectivity from appraisers and poorly implemented due to lack of training for its users. Key themes that emerged from the focus group interviews revealed that the majority of participants perceived PM as a management punitive tool that is not developmental in orientation, a political tool that lacks objectivity and benefits only the employer. Furthermore, they articulated that it was not aligned with their rewards and development. It was therefore recommended that; proper design and implementation of the PM system is vital, fairness, training of all parties involved, moderation of results and providing effective feedback should be employed in PM, effective communication, transparency, consultation and shared benefits for all participants are key to ensuring a broadly supported PM within the institution.
Highlights
Background and IntroductionGlobally countries invest a lot of capital into universities, research and development in general (UNESCO, 2018; OECD, 2018), the expectation is that the return on investment will be greater in the form of a highly skilled national workforce and increase in the country’s economic growth
The question/ concern raised by the results of this study is whether a collaborative design and implementation of a Performance Management (PM) strategy play a vital role in shaping the attitudes and perceptions of employees towards PM
Results from Qualitative Study: Five major themes emerged from interviews as indicated in table 1 below. These themes explicitly revealed employee attitudes and perceptions towards PM and reasons why employees resist the implementation of the PM process in the institution
Summary
Background and IntroductionGlobally countries invest a lot of capital into universities, research and development in general (UNESCO, 2018; OECD, 2018), the expectation is that the return on investment will be greater in the form of a highly skilled national workforce and increase in the country’s economic growth. As a result of poor PM processes, most universities fail to effectively carry out that national mandate and expectation (Mapesela & Strydom, 2005; Seyama & Smith 2015). The overall objective of the research study is to assess the attitudes and perceptions of employees towards the implementation of PM strategy at a higher education institution. The findings will enable the institution’s management to have a broader understanding of what employees perceive as PM challenges that should be addressed, along with what they perceive to be PM support factors that should be nurtured for PM process to be effective. The study focused on an institution whose PM was not managed effectively and employees resisted to participate in the process. The following broad question was addressed in the research study: Which important factors need to be considered when designing and implementing an effective PM strategy?
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