Perceptions of software professionals regarding performance management processes: An exploratory study

Abstract

Performance management has been considered as a critical tool aimed at strategically managing the contribution of human resources. As opposed to mere appraisal of performance, performance management as a process has a more holistic orientation which aims to define, facilitate, measure, and constantly improve performance at the individual, team, and organizational levels. The primary purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of software professionals regarding certain performance management process dimensions (viz., performance planning, feedback, and employee participation in the process); system knowledge and justice dimensions (viz., procedural, distributive and interactional justice with respect to the performance management system) and their potential inter-relationship. The study was carried out on a sample of 341 software professionals in four software firms in the NCR region. Three survey instruments, i.e., perception of performance management process dimensions questionnaire, perceived system knowledge questionnaire, and perception of organizational justice dimensions questionnaire, were designed and used for the study. Results revealed that: • Software professionals of all the four organizations were fairly satisfied with performance planning and their participation in performance management process; but only moderately satisfied with feedback. • Perceived system knowledge of the software professionals was moderate. • They perceived the performance management systems to be interactionally just to a large extent, but pointed towards a need for improvement on procedural and distributive dimensions. • Significant positive correlation was seen between justice dimensions, performance management process dimensions, and perceived system knowledge. Inter-correlations within performance management process dimensions and justice dimensions were also positive and significant. • Stepwise multiple regression analysis suggested feedback as the most significant predictor that explained maximum variance in each of the justice dimensions, viz., procedural, distributive, and interactional justice. The other two predictors were perceived system knowledge and employee participation in performance management process. Findings of this research have significant implications for HR practitioners. Feedback, perceived system knowledge and their participation in performance management process were found to be significant variables influencing their perceptions regarding fairness of the system and hence, may need specific attention especially in the software industry context. Strong inter-relationship was found amongst all dimensions relating to performance management process; perceived system knowledge, and justice dimensions pointing towards the significance of an integrated and systemic approach towards the process and have significant implications for improving the overall design, implementation, and outcomes of the performance management system.