Executive Summary

This report identifies two specific performance management issues: inspirational challenges;
and the inadequacy of rewards system in Malika Institute, a Senior High School (SHS) located in
Hohoe in the Volta region of Ghana. The school was continuously dropping in position due to
poor academic performance and also the tutors were leaving the school for other competing
schools. It was found that Malika Institute placed no value on human resource development. It
also operates an autocratic form of administration. It was also discovered that apart from the
monthly salaries of the staff, there exists no other forms of motivation. The report further
exposed Malika institute of practicing performance appraisal instead of performance
management. Recommendations to arrest the challenges were made and the potential benefits
were also explained.

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Table of contents
1.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………3
2.0 Profile of Malika Institute…………………………………………………………………………….7
3.0 The two issues of Performance Management at Malika Institute………………..8
4.0 Suggested Remedies…………………………………………………………………………………….9
5.0 Benefits of proposed Remedies to Malika Institute…………………………………….10
6.0 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………..10
7.0 References………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

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1.0 Introduction

Organisations or businesses are established in order to serve a purpose, how well a firm has
been able to achieve the said objectives could be traced to performance. Thus performance is
doing something successfully by the application of knowledge in order to achieve set targets.

According to Homayounizadpanah and Baqerkord (2012), performance management comprises

all activities that guarantee that organizational objectives are constantly being attained in an
efficient and effective manner. And the performance management focuses on the
organizational performance, employees, and departments and to some extent the processes
that are usually employed to build a service or product, as well as other key areas of an
organization. In the views of Armstrong and Barron (2005), performance management is an
integrated and a strategic approach towards enhancing the organizational effectiveness by
bettering the performance of employees as well as through developing the individuals and
teams capabilities.
The term ‘Performance Management’, according to Baron and Armstrong (2007) has mostly
been used in the context of human resources and it was first used in the 1970s but gained
recognition in the late 1980s. Homayounizadpanah and Baqerkord (2012) also believed the
term ‘Performance management ‘was initially used in the 1970s, however to depict a
technology-science entrenched in application methods basically intended to assist the
institutional managements to manage both results and behavior, which are the two vital
aspects of what is commonly identified as performance.

The building blocks of performance management according to Atkinson and Shaw (2006) could
be traced to motivation theory and, in particular, goal-setting theory and expectancy theory.
With respect to motivation theory, it seeks to point out that setting of clear-cut goals lead to
enhanced performance, and increased motivation which subsequently results in increased
performance. On the other hand expectancy theory hypothesizes that individuals change their
behaviour according to their anticipated satisfaction in achieving certain goals.

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In distinguishing between performance appraisal and performance management, Atkinson and
Shaw (2006) maintained that the idea of appraising performance has existed for many years
and has revolved largely around an annual review of objectives between manager and
subordinate. This approach has been backwards-focused, that is to say the focus has been on
historic performance, and has not typically sought to adopt a strategic approach. However, the
concept of performance management is a more recent development which adopts a future-
oriented strategic focus and is applied to all employees in a workforce in order to maximise
their current performance and future potential.

Since the 1970s, performance management has continued to evolve with earlier concept
involving ratings which were based on merit and later developed into more transparent
systems including rating scales, performance based payment schemes and management by
objectives (Martinez, 2001). And in the public sector, Martinez found staff appraisal to be the
most commonly used form for performance management. Thus performance management as
summarised by Matinez ( 2001) is concerned with how people work, how they are managed
and developed to improve their performance, and ultimately, how to maximise their
contribution to the organisation. Also, performance management is contingent on the notion
that sustained organisational success will be achieved through a strategic and integrated
approach to improving the performance, and developing the capabilities of individuals and
wider teams (Armstrong and Baron, 2005).

Now, the driving force for organisations consciousness about performance management
according to Fletcher and Perry (2001) is competitive pressures, also its use to support or drive
culture change and to shift the emphasis to individual performance and self-development.
These competitive pressures Atkinson and Shaw (2006) asserts arise due to globalisation and
the associated requirement to create competitive advantage in order to survive in an
international market place.

The concept of Performance management is governed by a number of underlying principles

and these principles according to Atkinson and Shaw (2006, pg. 174) are explained in the
following paragraph:

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To start with, performance management is a strategic process because it is aligned to the
organisation’s wider objectives and long-term direction. Secondly, it is integrative in nature, not
only aligning organisational objectives with individual objectives but also linking together
different aspects of human resource management such as human resource development,
employee reward and organisational development, into a coherent approach to people
management and development. Another underlying principle is in the direction of performance
enhancement in order to achieve both individual and organisational effectiveness. Performance
enhancement is further broken down into two principles: the ideas that employee effort should
be goal-directed and that performance improvement must be supported by the development
of employees’ capability. A further feature relates to communication and understanding and
the fact that performance management is based on an agreement between a manager and an
individual, a shared understanding of and continuing dialogue about an individual’s goals and
the standards expected and the competencies needed, together with an appreciation of the
organisation’s wider mission, values and objectives. Finally, performance management unlike
performance appraisal is owned and driven by line management rather than by the HR
function.

Many organisations both commercial and non-commercial have various compelling reasons for
implementing performance management procedures. This is because performance
management plays very critical roles. According to Murphy and Cleveland (1989) performance
management systems can serve six important purposes. These are summarized below:

The first identifiable role of performance management is that it is Strategic. That is to say that it
links the organization’s goals with individual goals, thereby reinforcing behaviors consistent
with the attainment of organizational goals. Secondly performance management serves
administrative purposes. It is a source of credible information about every aspect of employees,
ranging from salary adjustments, promotions, employee retention or termination, recognition
of superior performance, identification of poor performers, layoffs, and merit increases.
Another significant role of performance management is that it enhances communication. It
does this by informing employees about how well they are doing. Performance management

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promotes employee development. This is because performance management provides
feedback, which allows managers to coach employees and help them improve performance on
an ongoing basis. Organizational maintenance is another role of performance management
plays. This is because it yields information about skills, abilities, promotional potential, and
assignment histories of current employees to be used in workforce planning as well as assessing
future training needs, evaluating performance achievements at the organizational level, and
evaluating the effectiveness of human resource interventions. Finally, performance
management serves as vital documentation tool. Organisations end up creating database with
credible data that can be used to assess the predictive accuracy of newly proposed selection
instruments as well as important administrative decisions. These functions of performance
management schemes have continuously advocated for effective performance management
systems.

According to Markus (2004) in most organisations performance management is primarily an

annual event, a form completed prior to the end of the financial year. The form is filed and in
most cases will not be touched again until the next review the following year. The performance
appraisal may or may not be referred to at the annual pay review.

This assignment examines two performance management issues: inspirational challenges; and
the inadequacy of rewards system, which are encountered at Malika Institute, a senior high
school which is located in Hohoe in the Volta region of Ghana.

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2.0 Profile of Malika Institute

Malika Institute is a private Senior High School. Established in 1990, the school grew from an
initial student population of 10 to 1,500 in 2015. Malika institute is located in Hohoe in the
volta region of Ghana. Three retired educationist Maloe, Likpim, and Kafui are the founders of
Malika institute. The institute is administrated by the three owners; Headmaster being Kafui;
Human resource/operations manager –Maloe; and Accountant/marketing manager- Likplim.
Malika Institute has a teaching staff of 150, of which 100 are males and 50 are females.

Vision: Malika institute, the standard of secondary education in Ghana.

Mission: Malika institute is positioned to train students to excel academically and socially. This
Malika institute seeks to do by using qualified instructors who are well motivated, and also by
involving students in extra curriculum activities.

The Malika institute faces two major performance management issues over the years and these
have created loss of interest in the various performance management schemes. Smither and
London (2009) are of the opinion that performance management systems are often under -
utilized and also misused. And that poorly implemented performance management system can
do more harm than good.

One of the performance management issues at Malika institute is in respect of inspiration. The
staff of Malika institute has low inspiration. This is because there has not been a constant
investment into staff development. Thus staff motivation has not been managed over the
years. Subsequently, staff performance dwindles over the years.

Malika institute has no reward system to acknowledge and motivate high performing staff. A
reward system ginger staff to give off their best. The absence of it discourages excellence since
staff knowns their efforts would go unnoticed and unrewarded.

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3.0 The two issues of Performance Management at Malika Institute

Performance management creates a bridge between employee performance and that of the
goals of organisation which make employees actively participate towards the realisations of
organisation goals. However, if this link is broken the outcome could be severe. At Malika
Institute performance management templates are dished out to be completed by staff who are
mainly teachers. This has been the routine practice. The feedback to employees over the years
has been verbal warnings in the case of poor performance. Thus the teachers are less
interested in any performance management exercise.

Low inspiration

The number one issue about performance management is concerned with low inspirations of
the teachers at Malika Institute. Several causes of low inspiration could be identified at Malika
institute. To start with, the institute has not been carrying out training for the teachers.
Teachers are required to invest into themselves and in most instances teachers who undertake
extra trainings at their own cost are not promoted. This continuous lack of investment into the
human resource at Malika has wane the interest and commitment of teachers in pursuit of the
institute’s vision and mission. Another negative picture painted by Malika institute is that the
enabling environment for staff development is non-existence. This has had severe
consequences on the school since some of its best teachers were poached by other competing
institutions.

Another cause of low staff inspiration at Malika Institute stems from the organizational
structure. The institute is managed by the owners who exhibit autocratic style of governance:
thus every instruction has to be followed without questioning. This issue of low inspiration
requires urgent resolution because first and foremost, teachers are not giving off their best
leading to dwindling academic performance of the school. For the past five years, the school
has dropped from five position to the ninth position in the region, and 30th position in the
entire country. Hitherto, Malika institute was first in the region, and within the first ten in the
entire country. Secondly, this issue of low staff inspiration has to be given attention because;
the institute is losing highly qualified and experienced tutors. Several teachers of high
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reputation have left the school over the last five years. Also the low inspiration of staff has
continuously cause enrolment to plummet. Year after year Malika institute has lost the spot of
the first choice school for many prospective students.

Inadequate reward system

Apart from the monthly salaries of staff of Malika no other form of rewards exists. According to
Aguinis (2013), employee compensations are in two types, tangible returns which include cash
compensations, and benefits (income protection, work/ life focus, tuition reimbursement, and
allowances). Employees also receive intangible returns referred to as relational returns, and
these include: recognition and status; employment security; challenging work and learning
opportunities. Hence a reward system is the collection of a system for distributing tangible as
well as intangible returns as part of an employment relationship.

As it stands at Malika institute the reward system is the monthly salary. The system where high
performance by staff attracts extra reward (tangible or intangible) does not exist at the
institute. This kills the zeal of staff to put in extra effort to carry out the mission of the institute.
The inadequacy of the reward system results in teachers leaving the school for other competing
schools which offer better remuneration. This inefficiency also is having effect on teachers’
delivery in the classroom, which eventually lead to poor academic performance. And since the
school’s performance is continuously declining, enrolment also falls.

4.0 Suggested Remedies

With respect to low inspiration of staff of Malika Institute, the first suggestion should be
investment into the staff of Malika Institute. According to Marko (2011) programmes are
required to ensure high levels of staff motivation and commitment to organizational vision. The
management of Malika Institute should adopt a horizontal management style: this will enable
the involvement of staff in decision making. By so doing staff of the school could air their
grievances and problems and also take part in proffering solutions to it. Staff should be
motivated by sponsoring training programmes. That staff who takes initiatives for the
improvement of academic performance should be supported.

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In the case of inadequate reward system, Malika Institute should come out with other
remuneration packages such as rent allowance, extra hour’s allowance, and pass rate
allowance. Other monetary benefits to consider should be rent allowance, and health
insurance. Promotions in terms of additional responsibilities should be put in place. Public
acknowledgements, and merit awards. Thus not only monetary rewards but also non-monetary
rewards systems should be consciously developed and implemented.

5.0 Benefits of proposed Remedies

Performance management is a continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing

the performance of individuals and teams and aligning performance with the strategic goals of
the organisation (Aguinis, 2013). From this definition, it is evident that Malika Institute was all
these while doing performance appraisal and not management. So the first remedy is that
Malika Institute should adopt a comprehensive performance management programme.

If the aforementioned suggestions are considered and implemented the initial benefit would
come in the area of staff confidence in administration to addressing their grievances. If the
employees become confident in management, it goes a long way to addressing many of the
subsequent challenges. Another benefit which could be derived is that Malika Institute would
be able to retain and also attract new crop of tutors which would work towards accomplishing
the goals of the school. If staff of Malika is well motivated, it will translate into effective
teaching and learning. This eventually would result into high academic performance. Also
enrolment would improve.

6.0 Conclusion

The Malika Institute was going through the challenges of low enrolment of students, poor
academic results of its students, and tutors were leaving for other schools. The cause of those
problems was as a result of low inspiration and inadequate reward systems. It was found that
investment into the human resource of Malika institute was non-existent, and the reward
system was only monthly salary. The school was not involving the staff in decision making, thus
their grievances were not being addressed leading to the current state of performance of the

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school. It was proffered that a comprehensive performance management system should come
into force since what Malika Institute has been doing was performance appraisal.

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7.0 References

Atkinson , C. & Shaw, . S., 2006. Managing performance: Chapter 8. London: CIPD .

Smither , J. W. & London, M., 2009. Performance Management:Putting Research into Action.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .

Aguinis, H., 2013. Performance Management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Armstrong, M. & Baron, . A., 2005. Managing Performance: Performance management in

action. London: CIPD.

Baron, A. & Armstrong, M., 2007. Human Capital Management:Achieving Added Value through
People. London: Kogan.

Cleveland , . J. N. & Murphy , R. E., 1989. Multiple uses of performance appraisal: Prevalence
and correlates. Journal of Applied Psychology , pp. 74 , 130 – 135 .

Fletcher , C. & Perry, . E. I., 2001. 'Performance appraisal andfeedback: a consideration of

national culture and a review of contemporary research and future trends' in Atkinson, C. and
Shaw, S. Managing performance.

Homayounizadpanah & Baqerkord, 2012. Effect of Implementing Performance Management on

theProductivity, Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Chabahar Municipal Employees. Research
Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology , pp. 1767-1784.

Marko, S., 2011. Intergrated Performance Management Systems.

Markus, L. H., 2004. Performance Management-Problems and Potential.

Martinez, J., 2001. Assessing Quality, Outcome and Performance Management. Workshop on
Global Health Workforce Strategy World Health Organisation.

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