DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2016.v04i07.006

Pages: 785-791

The evolution in management and leadership styles within organisations is meant to improve organisational performance and goal attainment. As such, management approaches have evolved over the years from human relations management approaches to scientific management approaches and to a combination of both approaches. The changes in management approaches were aimed at improving organisational behaviour and performance results. With this in mind different organisations have come up with different performance management practices. This has resulted in service organisations such as education borrowing performance management practices from other fields such as commerce and industry. Within this context the Public Service Commission in Zimbabwe adopted the performance appraisal system in education and other sectors that fall under its jurisdiction in 1995. The performance appraisal system was meant to evaluate and improve the performance of teachers within the education system in Zimbabwe. Performance appraisal within the Ministry of Education was used as a strategy to review and evaluate the performance of school teachers, school heads and other education officers within the ministry. It was also used for the purpose of promotion and the award of bonuses within the public service in Zimbabwe. Apart from improving performance within the civil service, the system was meant to increase accountability as it placed emphasis on outcomes. From the performance appraisal system introduced in the 1990s, the Public Service Commission introduced Results Based Management (RBM) in education and other sectors in 2005. The paper aimed at establishing the extent to which RBM had been used in performance management in education.