Performance Management: A Scoping Review of the Literature and an Agenda for Future Research

Performance management (PM), in all its guises, occurs across all organizations whether formally through an official organizational process or informally through daily dialogue. Given its inherent importance to the field of Human Resource Development (HRD), we conducted a scoping review of the PM literature over a period of more than 11 years, uncovering 230 articles from 41 different journals. Our review suggests that the PM literature explores the more process driven aspect of PM, namely performance appraisal (PA), as opposed to investigating PM in a truly holistic way. Throughout, we suggest a series of research gaps which, if filled, will help both HRD scholars and practitioners better understand how employee performance can be effectively managed in the future.