Barriers to Effective Performance Management in South African Public Administration

Abstract

This study evaluates barriers to effective performance management within the South African public sector. The purpose of the study was to understand if barriers to effective performance management had an impact on performance appraisal outcomes, transformational leadership style, and public service motivation levels. The study further assessed transformational leadership’s ability to mediate between performance barriers and public service motivational levels.

Study approach was a quantitative methodology supported by an online survey for collection of primary data from South African civil servants. An exploratory analysis and inductive reasoning method was supported by the cross-sectional observational design of the research. The research outcomes confirmed that barriers to effective performance management had a significant and negative influence on performance appraisals worth, there was also a significant and negative effect on transformational leadership style, and barriers to effective performance management reduced public service motivation levels. The findings also confirmed that transformational leadership style partially mediated between performance barriers and public service motivation levels.

The implication is that whilst transformational leadership style partially mediated the impact of barriers on public service motivation, if public sector leadership does not act to assuage performance barriers, then endeavours at performance appraisals will become a cursory exercise, stratagems for public sector transformational leadership will be distrusted and team members with high public service motivation levels will exit the administration. Exorbitant costs for reduced quality of public sector services will become a common occurrence. With the help of transformational leadership strategies, employee public service motivation can be increased whilst reducing the influence that performance barrier wields over performance improvement. When barriers are reduced performance appraisal information can become more meaningful and useful for improved employee performance