(case-SAP consulting firms in Sri Lanka)

The purpose of this research study is to discover the factors which affect the employee performance in the SAP consulting firms of Sri Lanka and provide best practices and recommendations via introducing the learning organization concept. This study is mainly developed based on face to face interviews conducted from eight SAP consultants across three different firms. Interview questions are drafted based on the variables derived from the literature reviews which are: Communication, Team, Support and Recognition, Training, Skills, Performance and Capability. An empirical qualitative analysis is used as a research approach and Grounded Theory technique is used to conduct the in-depth analysis of interview responses. This research study discovered four main factors; Communication, Team, Training and Performance as the most contributing factors which affects the employee performance in Sri Lankan SAP consulting firms. The detailed issues that influence each main factor were elaborated throughout the study. Major findings of the research were employee’s career path is not aligned with the organization roadmap, poor consultancy skills led the competitor overtake the business and technology advancement has a potential impact on employee skills and performance. Based on the analysis of literature review and data collection, a seven-step process was derived as a best practice to improve the employee performance. Those steps are: top management commitment, build a committed team, develop a learning organization, measuring and managing employee performance, design a future-ready organization and maintain high employee morale