Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Master of Arts in the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / The study investigates the implementation process of the Employee performance management development systems policy within the Department of Social Development, attitude of staff and policy makers towards whether or not it is achieving its goals, the strengths and constraints in its implementation as a way to improve it. This study is conducted with an aim of coming up with solution to the problem or to identify drawbacks and establish if the policy is implemented correctly with the required tools for the purpose of improving service delivery. Since the EPMDS aims at organizational development and efficiency, this study will investigate if social workers are delivering their services to their best and to find out it is the right tool in the grooming and career pathing of social workers. The study reveals that there has been some dissatisfaction the way in which retention strategy was implemented, thus roll out campaigns are highly recommended for the provision of clarity provision of information on how it was implemented by the implementers. It explores the processes involved in implementation of Employee Performance Management Systems (EPMDS) it also identify what tools are used in the identification of other support mechanism and implementation of EPMDS mechanism. It establishes challenges that exist in the implementation and gain from participants possible recommendations for successful implementation of EPMDS. The study also establishes if there is integration of EPMDS with Integrated Service Delivery model (ISDM) and Situational Leadership Supervision Model (SLS), and focuses in the investigation of how Retention Strategy was implemented. The researcher utilizes evaluative research because the study aims at evaluating how EPMDS policy has been implemented within the Department of Social Development .Evaluation research, frequently referred to as program evaluation or practice evaluation, involves searching for practical knowledge in considering the implementation and effects of social policies and the impact of programs.

Companies face vital problems when implementing performance management in cross cultural context. Several attempts have been made to analyse employee performance management in the cultural and industrial context. However, the lack of studies of performance management in cultural and industrial context necessitates this phenomenon to be investigated in various cultures and contexts for sound academic contributions. The present study aims to investigate cultural and industrial influences on the general characteristics, criteria formulation and employee acceptance of performance management in cultural context. This study used a qualitative approach and is based on nine case studies in Azerbaijan. The study adopted semi structured in-depth interview and document analysis as the data collection methods. The results showed that the legal context is the most influencing dimension on the performance management system in Azerbaijan. The thesis concludes criteria for performance is the choice of management philosophy which is a cultural factor. The findings indicate that employees accept performance management positively when the process is implemented fairly. The findings of this study provide a solid evidence base for considering country culture and industry characteristics in implementing performance management. It is evidently clear from the findings that both local and international companies are faced with different problems when implementing performance management in the cross cultural context of Azerbaijan. This study should therefore be of value to practitioners wishing to overcome certain cultural and industrial related problems during implementation of performance management in host companies. In addition, the study contributed certain evidence of the cross cultural performance management process in the various context for the science.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Public Management In the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences At the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / 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.

M.Phil. (Industrial Psychology) / The aim of the study was to explore the managing of employee performance in the Department of Human Settlements (DHS). The study was necessitated by increasing dissatisfaction by the public in general regarding the performance of the DHS. A qualitative study was undertaken and four participants were interviewed. This study was particularly important because the performance of government departments in South Africa continues to fall under scrutiny as pressure for service delivery mounts. Recent studies indicate that public sector performance is a critical issue for governments around the world (Kealesitse, O’Mahony, Lloyd-Walker, Polonsky, 2013) and that an efficient public service in most cases enhances or improves the social conditions of the citizens. Hope (2012) acknowledges that citizens hold high expectations for their government to continuously provide quality and timeous services. Interviews were conducted with respondents at management level. The study established that while problems regarding the performance management of employees are experienced in the DHS, this has not reached a crisis stage. These problems occur due to subjectivity of the role players, vague performance standards in performance contracts, prioritisation of compliance with submission of performance contracts rather than managing the whole process diligently, lack of training of performance moderating committees, and lack of adequate management of poor performance. The researcher has offered recommendations for the management of subjectivity, the content of performance work plans, the referral to the incapacity code, and procedure for addressing poor performance as well as other areas that could enhance the management of poor performance in the DHS.