The management of employee performance in the department of rural development and land reform in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the management of employee performance with particular reference to the challenges faced by the National Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (NDRDLR) in the Western Cape Province. The Employee Performance Management System (EPMS) provides an integrated framework to manage employee performance through continuous improvement and development. Hence, the organisation identifies the availability of skills, shortcomings and appropriate measures to overcome these shortcomings by means of training, retraining and recruiting skills for the programme or project at hand. A qualitative research methodology was applied using mainly unstructured interviews, focus groups, observation and literature review. A case study approach assisted the researcher to acquire valuable data which was collected from the sample of senior management, middle management, union representatives and human resource practitioners within the National Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) in the Western Cape. The study identified how the performance management systems (PMS) is applied at the DRDLR and also probed into strategies and tools for managing employee’s performance. A purposive sample was composed of managers, and staff from the DRDLR. The researcher obtained approval to conduct the study from the Deputy Director: Human Resource Management within the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and from the Ethics Committee at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Findings from this study provided some significance of performance management at the work-place, and some understanding of what is EPMS by both the employer and the employees. This study revealed that there was less understanding of the EPMS, employees’ understanding of EPMS was biased towards pay benefits and rewards. The non-compliance of participants during performance management was a barrier towards the implementation of the EPMS at the DRDLR from the top to bottom in the departmental units where the sample was extracted. The study recommends a workable approach where all affected employees should be included in the planning of performance reviews, and should be trained continuously in order to address shortcomings in the implementation of EPMS. The findings and conclusions from this study contribute to the field of Public Management, while the study also allows other researchers to conduct further research in the field of performance management.