PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING IN
Date
2011-05-05
Authors
Gaithi, Lucy Muthoni
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Abstract
South Africa has since the end of apartheid struggled with the issue of poor public sector
performance. Performance contracting for public servants, introduced to improve the
public sector’s performance, has not borne much fruit. In this study, performance
contracting refers to a framework that uses a form of ‘relational’ contract referred to as a
performance agreement for performance management. This study sought to establish
challenges in the implementation of performance contracting in the public sector. In
addition, it sought to recommend interventions to improve implementation of
performance contracting in the public sector. A qualitative research approach was used
with Gauteng department of housing as a case study. The study focused on performance
contracting for senior managers who are members of the senior management service
The study established that although performance contracting has an important role to play
in performance management, its implementation is hindered by several challenges. The
complexity of performance agreements format templates; inadequate resources and
managerial authority; political interference; inadequate leadership; inadequate personal
training and development; systems and processes challenges; organization culture and a
weak implementation strategy were identified as the main challenges in the
implementation of performance contracting. The study recommends interventions to
improve the implementation of performance contracting. These include: the development
of a comprehensive implementation strategy that takes cognizance of the identified
challenges and provision of adequate political and administrative leadership.
Description
MM - P&DM
Keywords
Performance management, Housing, Gauteng Department of Housing