Employees' Perception and Its Impact on the Successful Implementation of Performance Management: The Case of Ghana's Public Sector

Performance management (PM) has become a key instrument in the pursuit for ensuring that organisations operate effectively. It is therefore one of the convenient instruments for changing the culture of public organisations.... [ view full abstract ]

Performance management (PM) has become a key instrument in the pursuit for ensuring that organisations operate effectively. It is therefore one of the convenient instruments for changing the culture of public organisations. Unfortunately, some scholars have expressed resentments about this approach to organisational cultural change. They believe that the introduction of PM in the public sector has not brought the needed change as argued by proponents. To them, the failure is because of employees' resistance to change and the inability of management to include employees in the change initiatives. This failure thus leads employees to negatively perceive such changes, which subsequently leads to resistance.
In view of this, some scholars have advocated the importance management must attach to employee perceptions in the implementation of reforms. It is believed that if employees are not happy or do not agree with new changes, they are likely to be unwilling to take an active part in the process, as they will not see any value in it. Furthermore, employees are essential to carrying out the business of an organization. Therefore, obtaining their insights and perceptions as to how best to carry out change will be beneficial for the organizations. Soliciting their insights can also have the side benefits of encouraging their active engagement for the well-being of the organization.
In spite of this, there is limited study on the relationship between employee perception of PM and its impact on the institutionalization and implementation process. In this study our intention is to ascertain the effect of employees’ perception on PM and its impact on the successful institutionalization and implementation in the Ghanaian public sector.
Since the early 1990s, introducing and implementing PM in the public sector has continued to occupy the attention of every Ghanaian government. Despite the many attempts to introduce an effective PM over the years, it was only in 2013 that the government was able to introduce and implement a comprehensive PM system in the sector. Although some scholars have attempted to explain the government's inability to introduce and implement such a system, they have simply ignored the role of employees in the entire process. Thus by understanding how employee perceptions affect PMS, we will be helping government, to pay close attention to employees as they attempt to introduce changes in the public sector.
This study uses the mixed methods approach to collect data from some public organizations. It contributes to the literature in a number of ways. First, the majority of the literature on PM is qualitative in nature. Thus using mixed methods will help understand issues better. Second, there are not many studies that have focused on employee perception and its impact on change when it comes to PM. This study will therefore be among the few that have done so. Third, majority of the studies on PM has come from the developed world. This study contributes to the scant literature on developing countries. Finally, it adds to our understanding of the role of employee perception in administrative reforms.