Developing a performance management system for non-profit organisations based on the Building Blocks Model

Abstract

Many academics claim that there is a big gap in literature regarding the management of performance. In non-profit organisations performance management is not a primary concern as labour are mostly volunteers. Non-profit organisations do not want to lose volunteers by applying performance management, but do not consider that the volunteers want their performance to be managed. The purpose of this research study was to develop a performance management system specifically for non-profit organisations based on an existing model, namely the Fitzgerald and Moon's Building Blocks Model, to manage the performance of volunteers as well as employees, as non-profit organisations also make use of permanent labour. In order for the performance management system to be developed, data was collected by means of interviews with managers of a selected non-profit organization called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and other selected animal shelters whom are not part of the SPCA. The data collected from the interviews together with relevant literature was used and applied in the development of a performance management system for non-profit organisations, namely the STEPS model. The STEPS model can be used by any non-profit organisation to manage the performance of volunteers and employees, as it was specifically developed based on factors which are important to non-profit organisations.