Performance management practices, meaningful work and loyalty of public employees: a conditional mediation model

Purpose Building on the social exchange theory (SET), this study examines the direct and indirect relationships between performance management (PM) practices, meaningful work and loyalty while conditioning the indirect effect on differing levels of organisational tenure. Design/methodology/approach This study is based upon survey data from employees in a Ghanaian parastatal organisation and uses bootstrapping estimation method with bias-corrected confidence interval via Hayes PROCESS macro techniques for the analyses. Findings The results show that PM practices (comprising of performance planning, performance monitoring and appraisal and performance decision) positively influence meaningful work and employee loyalty. Meaningful work also increases employee loyalty and further significantly mediates the relationship between employee loyalty and each of the three PM practices. However, this mediation is only significant statistically among short-tenured employees compared to long-tenured employees. Practical implications The evidence provides crucial insight for managers to leverage PM in minimising meaningfulness crises and averting destructive attitudes of employees, specifically, disloyalty in organisations. Originality/value Our study provides original evidence to extend PM literature and its reciprocal psychological payoffs through the viewpoints of the SET. This is a crucial insight for minimising meaningfulness crises and averting destructive attitudes of employees, specifically, disloyalty in organisations.