Effects of Public Employee Performance Management Information System on TPA Motivation in Dar es Salaam Port

The study assessed the effects of the Public Employee Performance Management Information System (PEPMIS) on employee motivation at Dar es Salaam Ports Authority, focusing on employee involvement in goal setting, perceived system fairness, and feedback mechanisms. The study adopted a quantitative descriptive design, and data were collected from 232 respondents using structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The research instrument demonstrated high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.892 to 0.919. The findings revealed that employee involvement in goal setting had a positive and statistically significant effect on employee motivation ( β = 0.277, p < 0.001). Perceived system fairness also had a positive and statistically significant effect on employee motivation (β = 0.333, p < 0.001), while the feedback mechanism recorded the strongest positive influence ( β = 0.374, p < 0.001). The overall model explained 87.2% of the variation in employee motivation (R² = 0.872). The study contributes to existing knowledge by providing empirical evidence on how a digital performance management system influences employee motivation within Tanzania’s public sector. More specifically, it demonstrates that the motivational effectiveness of PEPMIS depends not merely on its digitalisation, but on how effectively it promotes employee participation, fairness in appraisal, and timely feedback. The identification of feedback as the strongest predictor further highlights the importance of continuous performance communication within digital appraisal systems. Practically, the findings provide guidance to public institutions on areas that require managerial attention when implementing PEPMIS. The study concludes that strengthening participatory goal setting, transparent and consistent performance evaluation, and regular two-way feedback can significantly enhance employee motivation.