Performance management practices, employee attitudes and managed performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between performance management practices, employee attitudes and managed performance. Design/methodology/approach Using a disproportionate stratified purposive approach, a sample of 900 employees was drawn from four public universities in Uganda. Findings The paper reveals that performance management practices and employee attitudes are crucial for achievement of managed performance in public universities. Research limitations/implications This was a cross‐sectional study that inherently has common method biases. Such biases could be minimised with replication of the study using a longitudinal study approach that would also unearth all salient issues that could have remained untouched. Practical implications The paper emphasises the need for public universities to institutionalise result‐oriented relationships and adapt in the external hyper changing environment. Originality/value The paper calls for a new approach to managing employees in public universities with increasing demand for university education and stakeholder interests in delivery of cost‐effective quality services.