Performance Management Practices and Employee Performance in Public Sector Organisations: A Systematic Literature Review with Evidence from Uganda and Comparable Contexts

Purpose. Public organisations across Africa have introduced performance planning, monitoring and appraisal systems to improve service delivery, yet it is unclear what the peerreviewed evidence says about how these practices relate to employee performance. This review brings that evidence together. Design. The review followed PRISMA 2020. Five information sources were searched in October 2026 with Boolean strings covering performance management, public-sector and employee-performance terms. Twelve peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2024 met the eligibility criteria. Quality was appraised with a four-criterion instrument adapted from the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, and findings were synthesised narratively and thematically. Findings. Five themes emerged. First, formal systems are widely present but unevenly implemented. Second, clear, participatory goals are the most consistently supported enabler. Third, fairness, feedback and developmental use of appraisal determine whether employees accept the process. Fourth, associations with performance outcomes are positive but modest, and are measured inconsistently. Fifth, motivation, organisational culture and governance arrangements condition the effect. Only three of the twelve studies measured employee performance directly, and none was set in an urban capital-city authority. Implications. The evidence supports investing in the quality of implementation rather than in new instruments. The review closes with a revised conceptual framework and a research agenda calling for objective, multi-source performance measures, longitudinal designs and context-specific studies of urban public authorities. Originality. The review offers a transparent, reproducible and quality-appraised synthesis focused on public-sector performance management practices and employee performance in Uganda and comparable African and international settings.