Managing performance in quality management: A two level study of employee-perceptions and workplace-performance

Purpose: This paper addresses potential effects of the control element in Quality Management. First, behavioural theories on how elements of performance management can affect organisational performance are examined. Secondly, theoretical models on how perceptions of work conditions may impact wellbeing and performance are considered. Direct and indirect pathways from performance management to productivity/quality are inferred. Methodology: Matched employee-workplace data from an economy-wide survey in Britain and two-level structural equation models are used to test the hypothesised associations. Findings: The use of practices in workplaces is inconsistent with a unified performance management approach. Distinct outcomes are expected from separate components in performance management and some may be contingent on workplace size. For example, within Quality-planning, strategy dissemination is positively associated with workplace-productivity; targets are negatively associated with perceptions of job demands and positively correlated with job satisfaction, which in turn can increase workplace-productivity. With respect to Information & Analysis: keeping and analysing records, or monitoring employee-performance via appraisals that assess training needs, are positively associated with workplace-productivity and quality. Originality: This paper illustrates how control in Quality Management can be effective. Although the merits of performance management are subject to ongoing debate, arguments in the literature have tended to focus on performance appraisal. Analyses of economy-wide data linking performance management practices, within Quality Management, to employee perceptions of work conditions, wellbeing and aggregate performance are rare