The Public Sector Organisation: Development Performance - Research Proposal Example

RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM (7MG002) Student Name: Student ID: Provisional Topic Title: The Appraisal and Development of the Employees Performance in the Public Sector Organisation. Proposal approved by workshop tutor: Yes 1. Aims of the Dissertation: The objective of this report is to analyze the importance of the appraisal and development on the performance of the employees for the public sector organization as performance appraisal of the employee is very much needed to employee’s professional development, and to fulfil the objectives and desired target of the organization. Performance appraisal and development have a wide variety of effects on the employees as it guides the employees towards organizational advancement. Motivation, clarity, taking responsibilities, and teamwork are the main factors that act as performance appraisal and development for the employees in the organization. Towards explaining the importance of appraisal and development of employees in a public sector organization, the dissertation will go further in explaining the background upon which appraisal has been developed in the past before explaining how best this culture could be integrated into an organization. The role of the management in ensuring that these changes are realized will also be discussed accordingly. Research questions: What is the history of performance appraisal and what factors necessitated that the practice is integrated in organizational culture? Given the need to meet expectations of the public through optimal service quality, how could performance appraisal usefully facilitate the achievement of this objective while facilitating organizational growth? Considering that fully integrating performance appraisal in a public-sector organization necessitates cultural change, how could this change be realized without negatively impacting on the organization’s long-held values? If appraisal and development is focused on employees’ performance, what roles do the different levels of management have to play towards ensuring that performance appraisal and development is integrated into the culture, and that it is maximally beneficial to an organization? Hypotheses: The faulty nature of the public sector organization, often characterized by failure to satisfy the public for which it is obliged to serve, can be largely attributed to poor management practices, most importantly, failure to integrate appraisal and development of the employees performance in organizational culture. Given that adopting a culture of appraisal development of the employees necessitates cultural change, the transitional changes necessary for achieving this change can hardly be realized without placing emphasis on goal oriented strategies as; development of human resources; optimal utilization of human resources; and focusing on ideal public service. 2. Methodology: Towards comprehensively answering the research questions identified, both qualitative and quantitative research will be conducted in accordance with the comprehensiveness of the objectives this dissertation sets out to accomplish. Quantitative Research: Prevalent trends in the public sector organization will be sought, in a bid to quantify the proposition that; the public organization has often failed due to poor public service – a factor that necessitates that performance appraisal and development of employees is integrated into organizational culture. Data obtained from both primary and secondary sources pertaining to the topic will be used for this purpose. Towards understanding the importance of goal setting and identification of objectives to the achievement of the necessary cultural change for integrating performance appraisal in the organization, a questionnaire targeted on individuals in managerial positions of different organizations will be conducted. This study will seek to quantify that the success of the necessary cultural change necessitates active involvement of all managerial levels so that the appraisal and development of success performance is successful. Qualitative Research: Qualitative research will be necessary for the theoretical explanation of the ideas upon which this study will be based. Qualitative research will seek to answer all research questions, and will therefore be concise, yet comprehensive. Analyzing and applying past research work of important scholars in this field will be necessary for this purpose. This section will necessitate that credible sources of information are sought and that up-to-date information is used as it would be most relevant for a study that concerns the contemporary public sector organization. This section will also detail on the challenges that may prove problematic for the successful conductance of appraisals, as suggested by various researchers, among them Gary Roberts and Michael Pregitzer. Journal articles will be used as the primary source of information in this section. Relevant books and government websites will also be used to provide necessary information. 3. Brief Literature Review: In her article, Outcomes–based performance management in the public sector: implications for government accountability and effectiveness,Carolyn Heinrich sets out to establish the influence of public management and system-design factors on program outcomes and impacts. She reckons that outcome-based performance in the public sector necessitates performance-evaluation activities at all government levels, despite the problems often associated with performance-evaluation systems often used. Her area of interest is the federal organization, where she assesses the repercussions of relying on administrative data to measure program, and whether this information may negatively influence performance-based management. Her article is important for assessing the issues that affect performance management and for developing a workable plan for effectively assessing the public-sector employee. Dennis Daley’s book, Performance appraisal in the public sector: Techniques and applications, is a rich source of chronological information relevant to the institution of performance appraisal methods in the public sector. He begins his book by defining appraisal; outlining appraisal techniques, and explaining the concepts that guide appraisal in an organization. He goes further to detail on the laws that would ultimately lead to the quantification of performance appraisal as an effective means for improving public sector performance. Not only does heoutline the fundamentals of appraisal, including the reasons behind which appraisal should be done; the persons to perform appraisal; and the means to do it, he also performs a critical analysis of different techniques of appraisal and outlines those that best fit the public sector. His book is an important source of information for both qualitative and quantitative sections of research in this dissertation. In their article, The Paradox of Merit Pay in the Public Sector Persistence of a Problematic Procedure Edward Kellough and Haoran Lu seek to analyze the consensus by scholars and administrators that merit pay based on individual performance has failed in the public sector (Kellough & Lu 1993, p. 46). The authors reckon that, in spite of this factor, governments continue to advocate for merit pay based on individual performance. While taking a neutral stance on the matter, they seek advantages associated with merit pay systems before analyzing the most prevalent problems associated with the systems in the public sector. This article is important to the dissertation topic, given that it is not only informative on the merit pay system, but is also critical on governments, citing the challenges that hinder the success of the systems. Fernandez and Moldogaziev go further to establish the advantages associated with employee empowerment, the key idea behind which appraisals are based. The authors acknowledge that the public sector has long been adopting empowerment programs as a way to improve organizational performance. They cite that the main way by which empowered employees improve performance is by using innovation to rectify error in service delivery and redesigning work processes. The authors then use Bowen and Lawler’s conceptualization of employee empowerment as a multifaceted management approach to explore how different empowerment practices can be used to encourage federal employees to improve performance (Fernandez and Moldogaziev 2013, p. 172). The study is relevant to this research topic considering that it is straightforward yet comprehensive and updated. 4. Resources/Data Access: In addition to the journal articles which will mainly serve as qualitative sources of information for this research, information sought through government resources, mainly websites will be used to answer to analyze prevalent trends in the public sector. A variety of government websites will be used, and so will be non-government web-based credible sources, such as the world fact book. More to these, documented work detailing on trends in the public sector organization in regard to performance based appraisal will be used for primary research. The published works of such authors as Fernandez and Moldogaziev, Haoran Lu and Dennis Daley will prove beneficial for the informative purpose. As well, articles by such Gary Roberts and Michael Pregitzer, and John Mooney who mainly seek to understand employees’ attitudes to these methods will also be used to make a sound theoretical foundation for this topic. The main source of information for the qualitative research to be conducted in this dissertation will be interviews and questionnaires. For this purpose I will personally conduct closed questionnaires on managers’ perception on the effectiveness of cultural change with the active involvement of all managerial levels to the success of appraisal and development of employees in the public sector. These questionnaires will be conducted on individuals holding managerial positions in the public sector. 5. Timing Mileposts Milestone Description Due date Remarks 1 Stage 1: Area of interest identified 2 Stage 2: Specific topic selected 3 Stage 3: Topic refined to develop dissertation proposal 4 Stage 4: Proposal written and submitted 5 Stage 5: Intro/literature review 6 Stage 6: Testing done - collection of data and information 7 Stage 7: Analysis and interpretation of collected data/information 8 Stage 8: Write-up done 9 Stage 9: Final draft prepared – submission of dissertation 10 Final Deadline – nine months from classroom date. References: Heinrich, Carolyn J, "Outcomes–based performance management in the public sector: implications for government accountability and effectiveness," Public Administration Review 62.6 (2002): 712-725 Daley, Dennis M,Performance appraisal in the public sector: Techniques and applications,Abc-clio, 1992 Kellough, J Edward, and Haoran Lu, "The Paradox of Merit Pay in the Public Sector Persistence of a Problematic Procedure," Review of Public Personnel Administration 13, no. 2 (1993): 45-64 Fernandez S, and Moldogaziev T, "Using Employee Empowerment to Encourage Innovative Behavior in the Public Sector" Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 23, no. 1 (2013): 155-187 https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/rgbr/vol1iss1/performance_appraisals.shtml http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/resources/wellbeing_at_work/performance-and-appraisal--information-for-members.cfm http://chesterrep.openrepository.com/cdr/bitstream/10034/99961/1/john%20mooney.pdf http://glassvisage.hubpages.com/hub/Employee-Performance-Appraisal-in-the-Public-Sector-Uses-and-Limitations Read More