Abstract
Self-leadership is a critical competency in workplaces due to its association with positive employee and organisational outcomes. Organisations continuously explore ways to improve and strengthen their performance management systems (PMS) to improve organisational performance. The study sought to explore the role of self-leadership in developing an alternative performance management (PM) framework for a municipality. A qualitative case study design was adopted and conducted in a metropolitan municipality in South Africa. A sample of 11 participants was purposively sampled. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on the Microsoft Teams platform to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, and six themes emerged. The central theme was the development of a desired PM framework. The findings showed weaknesses in the current (PMS), which include poor understanding of the PMS, limited managerial capacity and competence to implement the PMS effectively, manager-employee interpersonal working relationships demonstrated a low level of trust, managerial attitude towards feedback was inconsistent and irregular, which deprived employees who valued performance feedback and coaching for self -improvement and development. Participants suggested strategies to incorporate into an alternative PM framework to mitigate the current weaknesses in the PMS. The strategies were captured in an alternative PM framework developed.
Self-leadership was found to have beneficial effects in enabling employees to demonstrate self-motivation and goal-directed performance behaviours. The study's practical contribution is proposing strategies to improve the PMS by aligning performance objectives with organisational vision, values, and strategy. Leadership development infused with trust to strengthen working relations, motivation and engagement is recommended.
Keywords: leadership, self-leadership, performance management, organisational performance, personal mastery