Orientation: Practices employed to manage the human resources at Johannesburg (JHB) Metropolitan Municipality were explored to unearth their impact on employee performance.Research purpose: The study sought to reveal the human resource management (HRM) practices that could support employee performance at local government.The motivation for the study: The achievement of organisational goals depends on HRM practices that enhance employee competencies. Employee performance in municipalities is often considered to be substandard. This study aimed to strengthen HRM practices to enhance performance at JHB Metropolitan Municipality.Research approach/design and method: The qualitative inquiry adopted an interpretive stance to reveal participants’ experiences that relate to employee performance. Ten participants were identified purposively and the obtained data were analysed with the assistance of the Atlas.ti software.Main findings: Whilst the organisation’s employee-attraction practices were strong, its retention practices were weak. Employees generally felt undervalued, which negatively affected their morale and the organisation’s goal attainment.Practical/managerial implications: The organisation should introduce effective employee-retention strategies, focussing on thorough needs analyses, skills development and rewards linked to performance. Building employee commitment should be prioritised.Study contribution: Human resource management effectiveness in the Johannesburg Municipality would be enhanced by appropriate soft HRM investment in senior management either through recruitment or development or both. Furthermore, the municipal culture should change from HRM practices that are influenced by tradition to an adaptive approach that responds to public-sector dynamics and varying employee expectations.

The study presents a burden on theory and practice for discovering a reward criterion that achieves workspace morale in a hyperinflationary context. It aimed to determine the relationship between the individual components of rewards (extrinsic, intrinsic, and social) and workspace morale and the mediating role of employee engagement in a hyperinflationary context. The study applied a cross-sectional study. It employed a structured questionnaire as a study instrument. The target population for the study comprised 900 employees and managers of Bindura municipality in Zimbabwe. The study employed a sample of 269 employees and managers, and the methodology used was a case study. A total of 269 questionnaires were hand delivered after administering the ethical consent form. A total of 214 questionnaires were returned, and after preliminary review and cleaning, 17 questionnaires were found with missing values leaving 197 analyzable questionnaires thus, achieving a 73.2% response rate. The study used multiple regression analysis. The results reveal a significant direct effect of total reward, intrinsic reward, and social reward on workspace morale. The direct effect of extrinsic reward on workspace morale was statistically insignificant. It also reveals that the effects of total reward on workspace morale are mediated only partially by employee engagement. The study viewed employee engagement as a mediating force between rewards and workspace morale but did not examine the bond longitudinally. The study recommends exploring reward options, specifically supportive supervisory relations, work autonomy, role clarity, skill variety and regular feedback to improve workspace morale in hyperinflation. The results demonstrate the importance of practices that win employee hearts to enhance commitment instead of external motivation in an inflationary environment.

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