Constraints Linked to Individualised Employee Development Following Performance Appraisal in Zambia’s Public Sector: A Concurrent Mixed Methods Inquiry

The purpose of this paper is to profile the constraints linked to employee performance in Zambia's public sector. The paper applied Goldratt's theory of constraints linked with existential phenomenology as its theoretical lens. A concurrent mixed-methods design is used to profile the constraints. Quantitative data were collected using a survey questionnaire from 84 supervisors across six ministries, whereas qualitative data was derived from 11 experts in policy and decision-making positions. The findings reveal that the application of public sector reforms relating to performance appraisal has been rather unsuccessful in enhancing the knowledge and skills of employees who have failed to meet the expected thresholds. There are financial as well as performance management processes acting as constraints. Actors tend to approach performance-based determined training in the same way they treat mainstream career-based development, which is not informed by any form of performance appraisal. The Public Service Management Division's championing of New Public Management reforms has largely been ineffective in this area. These findings offer practical insight to ameliorate the current performance management practices and enhance individual employee performance in Zambia’s public sector. First for the Public Sector Management Division, the findings could be applied to refine the public sector performance appraisal framework by ensuring that employees who have been recommended for individualised training are actually trained. Second, for the Ministry, the findings could be applied to plan for in-house staff development training