Nurses’ perceptions of Employee Performance Management and Development System (EPMDS) at a selected hospital in Durban, eThekwini District in KwaZulu-Natal.

Master of Nursing. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2017.Introduction The study was to describe nurses’ perceptions regarding on Employee Performance Management and Development System (EPMDS) concerning staff at selected hospital in Durban, eThekwini District in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Purpose of the study The aim of the study was to describe nurses’ perceptions on Employee Performance Management and development System (EPMDS) at a selected hospital in Durban, eThekwini district of KwaZulu-Natal. Methodology A cross-sectional descriptive quantitative design was used to collect data from a purposive sample of 119 nurses from the selected hospital in eThekwini District, KwaZulu-Natal. A self-administered questionnaire was used to elicit information from nurses on their perceptions of the Employee Performance Management and Development System. Data were collected using questionnaires consisting of closed-ended questions. Descriptive tests were used to describe the data whilst Chi-Squared test was used to determine relationships between variables. Findings The findings from this study revealed that nurses’ perceptions towards the performance management system (EPMDS) were focused on three key areas namely supervisors’ roles in performance management system, performance management process and the role of performance management system in the health care setting. It was found that nurses not receiving adequate training on EPMDS, supervisor’s attitude towards performance on the performance management systems, and the lack of fair evaluation process for performance management appraisal were the factors that influence nurse’s performance on the EPMDS. Conclusion These findings underscore the need to address these critical factors in order to achieve the overall purpose of performance management and development system that it is intended to achieve within the health setting. Key words: Employee Performance Management and Development System (EPMDS), Generic assessment factors (GAFs), Key result areas (KRAs), Performance Agreement (PA)