Performance Management in Slovak Local Governments: Evidence of Performance Measurement and Performance-Related Pay

Performance management and performance measurement in particular is increasingly gaining popularity in the EU countries, especially at a local government level. One of the likely reasons for this phenomenon could be the impact of performance measurement not only on individual but also on overall organisational performance. Economic growth has varied considerably in towns and municipalities across Slovakia and what is more, the still ongoing financial and economic crisis has made things even worse perhaps most clearly in peripheral regions. Local government development, performance management and the level of prosperity can be intertwined and can benefit not just the particular municipality but also the wider region. Good quality human capital in terms of motivated, skilled and outperforming staff is seen as an indispensable asset both in the private and public sector. Hence, performance management and performance measurement do not have to be seen merely as managerial or bureaucratic exercises. Instead, they could have much more wide-spread regional policy and regional development effects. The research deals with the topics of performance management, performance measurement and performance-related pay (PRP) in Slovak local self-governments or municipalities. Municipalities in Slovakia possess considerable level of freedom in terms of their performance management which allows both performance measurement and performance-related pay to be implemented. The purpose of the research is to evaluate and analyse the current state of performance management and in particular models and approaches of performance measurement of individual bureaucratic staff.