Designing employee performance evaluation model in Isfahan municipality: an interorganizational experience

Purpose - This study aimed at developing and testing a model to evaluate employee performance in Isfahan municipality. Design/methodology/approach - A mixed-method design is applied in this study. To extract the model, a semi-structured interview based on the thematic analysis approach was employed. The qualitative data were obtained using a researcher-made questionnaire from a sample of 12 municipal experts selected based on purposive sampling. In the quantitative phase, the sample consisted of 76 managers and interim managers. The validity of the questionnaire was determined by the content validity index, while the structural validity was tested based on structural equation modeling using SmartPLS software. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability indices. Findings - The factors obtained in the qualitative model included performance evaluation criteria, the desired time interval for performance evaluation, results announcement, performance evaluation approach, performance evaluation method and evaluator-related variables. There should have been an agreement between evaluators and those who were evaluated in all components of the model. In the quantitative section, performance evaluation criteria, evaluators, the evaluation method and time interval were confirmed with coefficients of 0.871, 0.815, 0.646 and 0.615, respectively. Practical implications - The novelty of this study is that it uses a mixed-method research approach to extract a performance evaluation model that is specific to the Isfahan municipality. Originality/value - The novelty of this study is that it uses a mixed-method research approach to extract a performance evaluation model that is specific to the Isfahan municipality.