Thematic Investigation of Employee Engagement Experiences: Predictions for Effective Departmental Performance Management
Non-academic staff represent a substantial portion of higher education institution (HEI) workforces yet remain consistently excluded from empirical research on employee engagement and performance management. This qualitative study investigated whether refining a performance management tool to the department level could improve non-academic staff engagement with the tool and its feasibility for achieving the department's strategic plan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five HEI library assistants at a large Midwestern research university.
A supplemental theme, "Performance Management Credibility Breakdown," emerged across all five participants and comprised 65.4% of all thematically coded segments, suggesting that participants' skepticism stemmed from widespread distrust in the current institution-wide performance management tool. Participants expressed strong interest in role-specific, staff-developed goal frameworks and shorter assessment intervals as conditions for credibility. These findings suggest that performance management credibility is a necessary component for any structural refinement meant to meaningfully improve non-academic staff engagement in HEI settings.