Performance Management: An Overview.

The theme of this paper is Performance Management, which is a philosophy and way of thinking about continuous Performance Improvement through improved performance of employees. The paper highlights the different processes involved in order to institute and implement performance management. Every process (eg Setting objectives; performance measures; performance appraisal; and etc.) is discussed separately in some detail. Probably one significant revelation concerns a shift from financial figures as essential performance measures to such other measures as customer satisfaction; quality; innovation and social responsibilities. Towards the end, the paper lists a number of suggestions in order to have a successful and sustainable performance management system. The paper concludes by re-emphasising the need for total commitment by both top management and all employees. African Journal of Finance and Management Vol.7(1) 1998: 50-6