A study on the level of understanding and implementation of performance management practices in the Malaysian public sector

Performance management is constantly being reviewed as an important aspect in achieving organisational effectiveness. Faced with the challenges of globalisation and more demanding citizens, the public sector has to be more effective and improve its service delivery. This paper outlines the practices of performance management in various countries including Malaysia. Some of these practices include planning, setting of standards, monitoring, evaluation, corrective action, benchmarking and best practices. Among the critical success factors in performance management are strong leadership commitment, effective communication, accountability for results, utility of the system, coaching and compensation and rewards system. This study was undertaken to gauge the level of understanding and implementation of performance management in the Malaysian public sector. Results show that there is a high level of understanding on performance management in the Malaysian public sector. Performance management practices in the Malaysian public sector are implemented at a satisfactory level and could be improved. Such improvements, especially, in the practices of communication, target setting, evaluation and the rewards system would ensure a more effective system of performance management