The effectiveness of the road accident fund (RAF) performance‐management development system at the RAF office in Durban, South Africa

• Date: 01 August 2020
• Author: Hajira W. Hamid,Loganadhan D. Naidoo
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2106

ACADEMIC PAPER

The effectiveness of the road accident fund (RAF)

performance-management development system at the RAF

office in Durban, South Africa

Hajira W. Hamid

1

| Loganadhan D. Naidoo

2

1

Human Resources

Management, Management College of

South Africa (MANCOSA), Durban,

South Africa

2

Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT),

Jacobs, South Africa

Correspondence

Loganadhan D. Naidoo, Mangosuthu

University of Technology (MUT), Jacobs,

South Africa.

Email: lnaidoo@mut.ac.za

In today's globalised business world characterised by a high level of competition and

unstable markets, businesses are called upon to utilise their resources in the most

effective and efficient manner to survive. It has become critical for businesses to

monitor their employees' performance and to constantly develop and train

employees to eliminate inefficiencies and improve productivity. Performance man-

agement has come to play an indispensable role in helping organisations reach their

productivity goals. However, research indicates that many organisations have failed

to implement and maintain effective performance-management systems owing to

employees' negative attitudes towards performance-management practices. This

paper through a quantitative approach investigates the effectiveness of the Road

Accident Fund (RAF) performance-management development system (PMDS) at the

RAF office in Durban, South Africa. The sample of participants were selected from

different structures across the organisational hierarchy. The key findings from the

study indicated that within RAF performance management review outcomes are very

subjective; the performance management system is not fully implemented; there is

inconsistent implementation of performance management amongst different depart-

ments; and a lack of managers' involvement in implementing the performance man-

agement system. Some of the recommendations made include the use of 360

feedback appraisal for employee performance evaluation; keeping up-to-date job

profiles outlining the roles and responsibilities of staff; and making sure that

employees are aware of performance measurements and performance criteria used

during performance reviews to reduce subjectivity.

1|INTRODUCTION

Performance management is one of the most important strategies

required in propelling an organisation to achieve its strategic objec-

tives. Performa nce management mus t be ongoing to effe ctively

accomplish coaching and mutual support to address identified

needs. It is sometimes viewed as a system which comprises a set of

toolsusedbyanorganisationtoenhancetheperformanceofthe

people in that orga nisation and the organisation i tself. The effective-

ness and success of a p erformance-man agement system r equires a

strong strategic a lignment betwee n employees and orga nisational

goals. This articl e investigates RAF 's employee perfor mance man-

agement development system. Specifically, it investigates the effec-

tiveness of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) performance-

management development system (PMDS) on the RAF office in Dur-

ban, South Africa.

The Road Accident Fund of South Africa mandate is to rehabili-

tate and compensate persons injured as a result of motor vehicles in a

timely and caring manner (RAF, 2017). The RAF provides two types of

cover which are “Personal Insurance”cover to accident victims or

Received: 13 November 2019 Revised: 11 February 2020 Accepted: 27 February 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2106

J Public Affairs. 2020;20:e2106. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of8

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2106