The impact of employee perception on the successful institutionalisation and implementation of performance management systems in developing countries: The perspective from Ghana's public service

Abstract

Summary Performance management (PM) has become a key instrument in the quest to ensure optimal operations by organisations in the public sector. Some scholars, though, believe that PM has failed because of employees' negative perception and management's exclusion of employees from its development. Studies on the relationship between employee perception of PM and its effectiveness in the public sector are limited. We argue that management must value employee perception more highly than they do at present because it is unlikely employees would be willing to take an active part in implementing a change with which they disagree or that they see as having no value. This study examines the effect of employees' perception on the institutionalisation and implementation of PM in developing countries, with specific reference to Ghana.

Administrative leaders as institutional entrepreneurs in developing countries: A study of the development and institutionalization of performance management in Ghana's public service

“…Training has been identified as one of the major ways to institutionalize PM in the public sector, especially if organizational members are to make sense of the process (Kroll & Moynihan, 2015). The leadership of the PSC identified training as the key to helping HR managers and others to enable making sense of the PM (Ohemeng, Amoako-Asiedu, & Obuobisa-Darko, 2018a). Consequently, it has developed training regimes for HR managers and other stakeholders, using part of their annual budget.…”

Exploring the Qualitative Factors Influencing the Perception of Employees on Performance Management Practices of Public Organizations in Ghana- The Case of Bolgatanga Polytechnic

“…Research on the nexus of employees' perception and performance management systems of organizations is not profound, especially in Ghana (Ohemeng, et al, 2018). According to them, not until the Government of Ghana in the early 1990s introduced the National Institutional Reform Programme aimed at making employees of the Civil and Public Service proactive, effective, among other objectives, performance management was not common to employees of the Civil and Public Service in Ghana.…”

“…In the early 1990s the Government, led by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) instituted the National Institutional Reform Programme (NIRP) with the aim of making employees of the Civil and Public Service proactive, efficient, effective, innovative, cost conscious and attractive in order to deal with growing demand for an efficient public service and other daunting challenges emerging at the time (Ohemeng, et al, 2018). To achieve these, the Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme (CSPIP) was introduced with the main aim of changing the performance management strategy from one that was based solely on annual confidential reports, which mainly measured the personal attributes of employees, to one that focused on the job performance of employees.…”

“…To achieve these, the Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme (CSPIP) was introduced with the main aim of changing the performance management strategy from one that was based solely on annual confidential reports, which mainly measured the personal attributes of employees, to one that focused on the job performance of employees. Employees performance were to be measured based on concrete achievements of governments programmes and policies as contained in budget statements and other sources (Ohemeng, et al, 2018). According to them, however, due to changes of governments subsequently and perceived non-involvement of employees in the processes the reform programmes could not be implemented.…”

“…Gerrish (2016) suggested that organizations cannot be effective and efficient in their operational strategies without effectively managing the performance of their employees. The performance of employees cannot be effectively managed if they are not effectively engaged in the performance management process, where their concerns and suggestions are taken into consideration in drawing any performance management system (Ohemeng, et al, 2018). The perceptions and views of employees are therefore, so essential if performance management systems are to be successfully instituted and implemented in any organization (Ohemeng, et al, 2018).…”