Implementation of the Employee Performance Target System for Functional Officials: A Qualitative Case Study of Performance Management Processes in the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Health Office, Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: The implementation of the functional official performance assessment system through Employee Work Targets based on the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Regulation Number 1 of 2023 and Number 6 of 2022 faces various complex challenges in its implementation. This study aims to examine the implementation of the Employee Performance Target System for Functional Officials: A Qualitative Case Study of Performance Management Processes in the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Health Office, Indonesia. Method: The research used a qualitative approach with a descriptive evaluative case study type, involving 8 informants consisting of 4 regular informants (functional officials) and 4 key informants (assessors and personnel managers). Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews, with data analysis using the NVivo application. Result: The findings identified a gap between the availability of digital performance management infrastructure and organizational capacity to implement the system substantively. Three major process-related issues emerged: implementation of Employee Performance Targets, monitoring, and evaluation. Although the electronic performance system facilitated data entry, performance documentation, and managerial access, challenges remained in regulatory understanding, digital literacy, assessor competence, structured monitoring, feedback mechanisms, coordination, and performance dialogue. The absence of consistent performance dialogue limited the use of performance assessment as a mechanism for employee development. Conclusion: Effective implementation of Employee Performance Targets requires more than digital system availability and regulatory compliance. Strengthening assessor capacity, regulatory socialization, structured monitoring and feedback, and performance dialogue is essential to ensure that performance management contributes to continuous improvement and professional development of functional officials.