Ngcamu, B.S., Mangosuthu University of Technology, South Africa
The history of the performance management system (PMS) at South African universities is not a success story as it is associated with perceived inconsistencies during the implementation stage. The purpose of this article is to gauge the perceptions of employees on the consistent use of PMS practices at the university concerned, as well as the impediments to implementing the system, with the aim of providing pertinent recommendations to be applied by the universities of technology when implementing the PMS. A quantitative research design was adopted and a survey method was used, whereby questionnaires were administered by the researcher to a population size of 150 from which a sample size of 108 completed questionnaires generating a response rate of 72%. The study findings show a disproportionately high percentage of 14.8% of the respondents who disagreed and 33.3% who were undecided as to whether PMS will be used consistently at the university concerned. The failure of PMS implementation leads to staff non-accountability, non-compliance to agreed standards and resistence to change. This study will hopefully add value to the body of knowledge in South Africa on performance management's perceived inconsistencies during implementation of the system by identifying inclusive strategies to mitigate any challenge.
