Factors affecting employee performance: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the fragmented literature on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), leader–member exchange (LMX), learning, innovative work behavior (IWB) and employee performance across different countries, disciplines and organizations, thereby broadening the literature breath and making gap identification comprehensive. Second, it provides information on how much studies have been concentrated on Africa with the goal of provoking scholarly work in a unique cultural setting on the interrelatedness of these concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

Relevant literature search was undertaken using key search terms, “employee performance,” “OCB,” “LMX,” “IWB,” “individual learning” and “team learning.”

Findings

The findings show positive relationships between the behaviors and employee performance. They also reveal an interesting diversity in the study across multidisciplinary fields holding both cultural and contextual significance for academia and practitioners.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of literature to peer-reviewed journals from the authors’ university library might have missed important information not in this domain. Further studies must make use of additional search terms and engines excluded from this study to provide a more comprehensive analysis.

Practical implications

The paper has important managerial implications for practitioners. The analysis can support the understanding of employee performance from a broader and more diverse view points; and help in providing insight into real-life opportunities, constraints and solutions in enhancing performance management.

Originality/value

This systematic literature review highlights important knowledge gaps which need to be explored especially in the African and Ghanaian contexts.

Citation

Atatsi, E.A., Stoffers, J. and Kil, A. (2019), "Factors affecting employee performance: a systematic literature review", Journal of Advances in Management Research, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 329-351. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-06-2018-0052