The influence of performance management systems on employee job satisfaction levels at a telecommunications company in South Africa

Oct 28, 2026

The study examines how employee perceptions of performance management affect job satisfaction within a South African telecommunications company. A survey-based quantitative approach collected data from 300 employees using a Likert-type instrument and an adapted Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess job satisfaction. Findings show that perceived policy implementation and perceived fairness significantly and positively influence job satisfaction, with fairness exerting the stronger overall effect. The work supports practical guidance for implementing systems grounded in fairness and consistent policy communication.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Orientation

Research purpose and objectives

Literature review

Research approach/design and method

Main findings

Practical/managerial implications

Contribution/value-add

SA Journal of Human Resource Management ISSN: (Online) 2071-078X,(Print) 1683-7584 ~~ ~~ Page 1 of 9 Origina~~l Research ~~ The influence of performance management systemson employee job satisfaction levels at a telecommunications company in South Africa Authors: Lloyd Mphahlele1 Leigh-Anne P. Dachapalli2 Affiliations: 1Faculty of Management Sciences, Tshwane School for Business, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa 2Department People Management and Development, Faculty of Management Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa Corresponding author: Leigh-Anne Dachapalli, [PaulLA@tut.ac.za](PaulLA@tut.ac.za) Dates: Received: 22 Jan. 2021 Accepted: 19 July 2022 Published: 31 Aug. 2022 How to cite this article: Mphahlele, L., & Dachapalli, L-A. P. (2022) . The influence of performance management systems on employee job satisfaction levels at a telecommunications company in South Africa. SA Journal of Human Resource Management/SA Tydskrifvir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 20(0), a1804 . [https://doi](https://doi). org/10 .4102/sajhrm. v20i0.1804 Copyright: © 2022. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. Orientation: Given the importance of employee job satisfaction to organisational success, job satisfaction is still a common element for any organisation to be successful. Research purpose: To determine to what extent employee perceptions of performance management impact job satisfaction. Motivation for the study: This study was motivated by the relative paucity of extant literature considering the relationship between employee job satisfaction and the implementation of performance management systems within telecommunications companies in South Africa. Research approach/design and method: A survey-based quantitative approach was employed to collect data from 300 employees in a telecommunications company in South Africa. The survey instrument comprised items measuring perceptions of performance management and the performance management system and an adapted Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) that was used to evaluate job satisfaction. Survey items were accompanied by a five-point Likert-type scale. A nonprobability convenience sampling method was adopted. Main findings: The results showed that perceived policy implementation and perceived fairness have a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction, with perceived fairness having a greater overall effect. Practical/managerial implications: The implementation of a performance management system should be predicated on fairness and all due efforts to underline and communicate the fairness of the system, coupled with consistent policy implementation, can improve employee job satisfaction. Contribution/value-add: This study more broadly illustrates the importance of perceived fairness and consistent policy application in the implementation of a performance management system to overall employee job satisfaction. Keywords: performance management; performance management system; job satisfaction; performance appraisal; telecommunications company. Introduction and background Employees are central to the success of any organisation, as they are the key resource in ensuring that strategic activities are executed with a high degree of diligence and timing. To this end, performance management systems are tools and mechanisms that enable organisations to evaluate the performance of employees and which have the potential to impact employee job satisfaction (JS) in either a positive or a negative way, depending on the manner in which the system is implemented (Demartini, 2014) . Within the South African telecommunications sector, strong growth over the past 5 years has given way to a substantially more competitive environment, especially c

FAQs

What is the research purpose of this study?

To determine the extent to which employee perceptions of performance management impact job satisfaction.

How was the data collected and what sample size was used?

A survey-based quantitative approach collected data from 300 employees using items measuring perceptions of performance management and job satisfaction, including an adapted Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire.

Which factors showed the strongest relationship with job satisfaction?

Perceived fairness and perceived policy implementation both had positive and significant effects, with perceived fairness having the greater overall effect.

Oct 28, 2026

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