Performance Management Practices and Motivation in Developing Countries: A Further Validation of the Public Service Motivation Construct in Ghana

The purpose of this study is to test if the local government's performance management practices are predicted by their employee's public service motivation levels. Local government's performance management practices are effective when their employees are committed and motivated. Employees whose motivations are unique to public institutions will be committed to both their key performance indicators and the general strategic goals of local governments' core mission, and the lack of it may be detrimental to the local level management practice. The study used a cross-sectional survey of 850 local government employees in the Greater Accra of Ghana. The method of analysis of the data was multiple regression techniques. The findings suggest that employees' scores on attraction to policymaking, civic duty, and commitment to the public interest are strongly positively associated with performance management practices. The regression analysis demonstrated that public service motivation subscales combined to predict the variance in the dependent variable. Several studies of performance management research examine utilization and the rational decision-making process in federal governments; however, this study is one of the few to examine performance management practices of local governments and public service motivation theory by showing that employees' public service motivation levels can significantly predict the changes in performance management practices.