PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE OF GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE UPPER WEST REGION

Abstract

Over the past two decades, performance management system has become an important worldwide management practice in private and public organisations. Performance management systems are widely recognised as tools that help public organisations meet customer needs, but their implementation often relies on untested assumptions, leading to gaps in the literature. The study examines the effects of the implementation of the local government service performance management system on service delivery in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The study is hugely grounded in the Goal-setting theory. The study uses a mixed methods approach, collecting data from 313 participants through survey questionnaires, interviews, observations, and document analyses, to analyze and interpret both quantitative and qualitative findings. The findings revealed that the local government service has implemented a robust performance management system for the past ten years (2014 to 2023), utilising contracts and appraisals to ensure efficient service delivery for citizens. The study reveals that performance management systems improve key areas like general administration, human resource management, and local economic development, but fail to improve infrastructure development, financial management and reporting. Further, the study indicates that while performance management systems have improved social services, environment and sanitation, there are still gaps in the efficient delivery of key performance areas and indicators. This study concludes that the effective and efficient implementation of local government service performance management system to improve service delivery is necessary but not sufficient without adopting an integrated and all-inclusive, employee-centred approach at all levels of the local government structure into the formulation, implementation and evaluation of performance management systems in a developing country, particularly, the Ghanaian context.