Performance management in New Zealand: How well is it working and what needs to be improved?

Abstract

Although organisations devote substantial resources to their performance-management systems, studies suggest that it is not uncommon for these systems to be perceived as ineffective. This paper explores how well performance management is operating in New Zealand, and whether there are any obvious areas where improvement is needed. The paper reports survey data from 156 medium to large New Zealand organisations. Within each of these organisations a survey was sent to three people: the head of HR, one randomly selected line manager and one randomly selected employee. Each was asked a set of questions pertaining to the functioning and effectiveness of the performance management system. The results show that there are some revealing differences in perceptions between the three sets of respondents, and some specific areas where performance management practices across New Zealand can be improved.