Introduction
The public service sector has been under pressure to improve service delivery, accountability, and transparency globally. As a result, public service practitioners are adopting new human resource management systems to improve performance and guarantee competence and efficiency in service delivery. Public service is important because it effectively influences the nation’s service delivery to public and administration administrative duties. To that end, governments must implement the best performance management practices for better human resources management and service administration. A performance management system (PMS) is considered the most efficient tool for managing human resources by measuring employee performance in line with its vision, goals, and mission. The system links individual performance to rewards, which motivates all employees to provide quality services to the nation’s well-being and obtain rewards for work well done. This paper discusses the implementation process of an effective performance management system and methods of improving the system to ensure performance in administration and service delivery.
Implementation and improvement of Performance Management
Performance management is fundamental in the public sector as it promotes a productivity culture among all employees. A performance management system is a tool designed by an organization’s human resource management to measure employee performance versus rewards (Ashdown, 2018). Performance is determined by measuring an employee’s service delivery per the organization’s goals and objectives. Measuring human resources is essential in improving and ensuring quality service delivery. The management system contains vital performance areas which align with key performance indicators that rate an individual’s performance to determine their rewards.
Achieving an effective performance management tool requires various activities, including implementation and improving the system when needed to ensure maximum utilization of management performance. The implementation process forms the foundation of an efficient system and needs attention for a successful performance management process. Performance management plays the role of helping employees understand the institution’s expectations (Kalgin et al., 2018). Secondly, the management system ensures that employees perform their duty efficiently and engage in self-monitoring and evaluation for productivity (Ashdown, 2018). In line with these roles, the core components of successful implementation include ensuring alignment with other human resources systems, training, communication, tracking and reviews, and pilot testing.
Getting All Employees on Board
An effective performance management system must involve all organizational employees and top management in the implementation process. Including employees in the program motivates them to use the system for productivity and to improve service delivery as they work towards a common goal. According to Mone and London (2018), all employees must be involved when introducing performance management to ensure they understand the initiative and changes required for better service delivery and productivity of the organization. Implementing performance management in the institution involves change which depends on the employee’s readiness and attitudes to adapt and work towards accomplishing a stated objective.
Performance management is a system that controls human resources from the managerial level to the general management system of an institution. Borgonovi et al. (2018) state that top-level managers have the greatest influence on the successful implementation of PMS, where the most committed leaders enable a successful implementation while inadequate commitment fails. The managers are in charge of establishing performance expectations for the staff, which requires individual initiative and hard work to ensure the system’s success.
Alignment With Human Resources Subsystems
When designing and improving a performance management system, one must consider the essential needs of the organization. Since performance management aims to optimize results in the institution as a whole, the system must align with all subsystems within the public service sector for effectiveness. The subsystem includes human resources such as institutional values, training, and competencies for appraisal and recruitment (Borgonovi et al., 2018). According to Maran et al. (2018), a performance management system should be a process of establishing shared objectives, approaches to achieving the objectives, and managing human resources to achieve the set goals to increase organizational success. Further, the objectives and goals must be established mutually by the institution’s employees and dictate specific expectations and the time frame required to accomplish them (Kalgin et al., 2018). In addition, the goals should be relevant, attainable, and challenging to enhance the employees’ skills and competencies for better performance. Thus, the system should support the institution’s goals, objectives, mission, and vision and unite employees towards attaining a common goal.
Tracking and Performance Review system
Performance management links an employee’s performance to rewards. In this regard, an effective system should be able to track, monitor, and evaluate employees’ performance in alignment with their rewards. Employees with consistently good track records should receive higher compensation, promotions, and incentives than those with poor evaluations (Borgonovi et al., 2018). The tracking system promotes transparency and fairness because individuals are assessed according to their performance in a particular area (Mone & London, 2018). Further, the system allows managers and top executives to identify areas of weakness in public service administration and delivery to find approaches to improving the areas. Tracking and monitoring systems work more efficiently with automated tools than manual operations. Thus, the institution should have automated human resource management for effective alignment with performance management.
Training
Managers and employees need to familiarize themselves with the established performance management system to enhance user-friendliness and motivation to adopt the system. Although most public service sectors in developed countries have a solid and efficient performance management system, training is required to educate employees on developing performance strategies. Consequently, managers need to understand the significance of performance management in public service delivery and their critical role in ensuring employees adhere to the institution’s expectations (Marc & Warda, 2020). Managers and employees can train by attending physical classrooms, on-job training, or online and virtual classrooms. van Helden and Reichard (2018) recommend attending physical classroom sessions to acquire hands-on practice and facilitate discussions about performance management among employees and managers. According to van Helden and Reichard (2018), classroom training allows employees and managers to create effective feedback channels and grow comfortable in different roles to achieve the desired expectations. Training all employees, particularly managers, to give quality feedback is essential for the system to work effectively. It allows managers to obtain adequate competencies and knowledge in evaluating employee performance to determine rewards and compensations (Marc & Warda, 2020). Therefore, the implementation team should take the time to train everyone and encourage mutual participation for the successful implementation of the system.
Data collection and Feedback Process
A successful performance management system should have a feedback process between the managers and employees. A feedback process is essential in providing guidance, coaching, and motivating performing employees (Mone & London, 2018). Most employees in the public service sector need positive input from their managers to focus and provide quality service delivery. The feedback channel should facilitate respectful discussions that aim at improving service delivery. Ashdown (2018) states that constant feedback allows managers to gather employees’ opinions and perspectives that can be included in future plans for improving performance management. Hence, the management system should offer an efficient feedback channel that ensures constant check-ins and feedback it achieve the desired objectives.
Pilot Testing
Most implementation processes require pilot testing to ensure the effectiveness of the system. Pilot testing is the pre-running of a new or improved system before large-scale implementation (Maran et al., 2018). Testing the performance management system enables the designers to determine the efficiency and smooth running of the system’s functions. Further, testing enables the implementation team to determine whether employees and managers understand the mechanics of the system and Areas that need additional training and support. Impotently, testing the system prior to final implementation helps in gauging the employees’ reactions about different functions and adjust various areas to facilitate the major implementation.
Conclusion
Addressing the implementation and improvement of performance management in the public sector remains essential in providing quality service delivery to the public. Various factors influence the effective implementation of a sound management system. First, the system should align with other human resources subsystems and the institution’s values and objectives. Aligning with the subsystems allows employees to participate in the implementation process and create attainable goals and objectives. Consequently, the managers can identify evaluation protocol and performance expectations to detriment individual rewards. Secondly, the system should get all employees and managers on board and develop user-friendly tools and feedback processes. Thirdly, employees and managers should receive adequate training regarding the management performance system to achieve the maximum potential of value-added benefits of the system leading to quality service delivery.
References
Ashdown, L. (2018). Performance management: A practical introduction (2nd ed., Vol. 16). Kogan Page.
Borgonovi, E., Anessi-Pessina, E., & Bianchi, C. (2018). Outcome-based performance management in the Public Sector. Springer International Publishing.
Kalgin, A., Podolskiy, D., Parfenteva, D., & Campbell, J. W. (2018). Performance management and job-goal alignment. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 31(1), 65–80.
Maran, L., Bracci, E., & Inglis, R. (2018). Performance Management Systems’ stability: Unfolding the human factor – a case from the Italian public sector. The British Accounting Review, 50(3), 324–339.
Marc, H., & Warda, S. (2020). Progress in performance management: Industry insights and case studies on principle, application tools, and Practice. SPRINGER NATURE.
Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2018). Employee engagement through effective performance management a practical guide for managers (2nd ed.). Routledge.
van Helden, J., & Reichard, C. (2018). Management control and public sector performance management. Baltic Journal of Management, 14(1), 158–176.