Evaluating performance appraisal practices in Sierra Leone’s Civil Service: A comparative study through the lens of organizational justice and public service motivation

This research dives into how Sierra Leonean civil servants in the Cabinet Secretariat and the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) feel about fairness during their performance reviews, and how this affects their motivation to serve the public (PSM) and the overall effectiveness of these appraisals. To get a well-rounded picture, the researchers used a mix of methods, including surveys given to 200 employees and in-depth interviews with 20 of them (mostly senior civil servants). The survey results showed that when employees feel like the performance review process is fair, they're more motivated and find the appraisals more useful, which lines up with what other studies on workplace fairness have found (like Alama & Chikeleze, 2022). The interviews, on the other hand, brought to light some issues, such as uneven ways of doing appraisals and cultural beliefs that sway how people see fairness. Interestingly, while both offices aim for effective reviews, the HRMO seems to have a more organized way of doing things, which might be why employees there perceive the process as fairer. The alignment between the numerical and descriptive data really highlights just how crucial organizational justice is in determining PSM and evaluation results. This information is super helpful for HR in the public sector, as it drives home the importance of having fair and open evaluation systems to boost employee drive and effectiveness. Moving forward, it would be great to see more research looking into the long-term effects of evaluation changes and expanding the analysis to include other agencies within Sierra Leone.