A performance management system application model for public institutions : the case of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner, Limpopo Province
Abstract
Public service organisations face unprecedented pressure, not only to achieve the goals set by the government and to meet the expectations of the citizens, but also to deliver increased productivity and efficiency. To achieve this, they have adopted various private sector management techniques such as the Balanced Scorecard, Excellence Model and Six Sigma, which increasingly find application value in public institutions. A comprehensive statutory and regulatory framework was further established to facilitate the design and implementation of comprehensive performance management systems (PMS) in public institutions in all spheres of the South African Government.
Although the vast majority of public institutions in the South African Public Service have implemented performance management systems, they generally experience significant challenges with the comprehensive design and the application of these systems. The Office of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner (RLCC), Limpopo Province is no exception. A situation prevails in which employees do not fully understand their responsibilities and generally do not appreciate their respective contributions to operationalising the strategic objectives of the Office. This situation has a detrimental effect on the overall performance of the Office.
This research therefore seeks to uncover and evaluate the particular challenges associated with the implementation of the PMS in the Office of the RLCC with a view to recommending amendments and adjustments in terms of its implementation and application. From this empirical investigation it is evident that the RLCC Office is facing some significant challenges pertaining to the general management of performance.
In this study, a qualitative, case study research design was followed, utilising a descriptive approach to interpreting the phenomena under investigation. Two managers, five line managers’ and 10 employees, that is, a total of 17, were selected through purposive sampling from the Office of the Regional Land Claims Commission. Semi-structured interviews were utilised for data collection purposes.