Cultura organizacional e percepção de servidores públicos sobre a avaliação de desempenho em uma autarquia municipal

Abstract

Performance evaluation has been widely adopted in public administration as a management tool aimed at improving services, valuing public servants, and strengthening institutional efficiency. However, its implementation in public organizations often encounters resistance that cannot be explained solely by technical or normative aspects, but also by cultural factors present in the organizational environment. In this context, the present study aims to analyze how organizational culture influences public servants’ perceptions regarding the adoption of a performance evaluation process. The research was conducted in a municipal public agency located in the Triângulo Mineiro region of Brazil and was theoretically grounded in the organizational culture model proposed by Schein (2010). A qualitative approach was adopted, with an exploratory and descriptive character, using the case study as the methodological strategy. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with public servants involved in the implementation of the performance evaluation process and complemented by document analysis. The data were examined using the content analysis technique proposed by Bardin (2016). The results indicate that perceptions of performance evaluation are influenced by three interrelated cultural dimensions: resistance to change associated with institutionalized bureaucracy, the effects of job stability as a naturalized cultural assumption, and the role of leadership in conducting the evaluation process. It was observed that, in contexts marked by bureaucratic routines and a perceived absence of consequences, performance evaluation tends to be interpreted as a formal procedure with low transformative potential. It is concluded that the effectiveness of performance evaluation in the public sector depends not only on the sophistication of the instruments adopted, but also on how they are incorporated into the organizational context, involving the confrontation of cultural assumptions and the strengthening of leadership in building an evaluative culture oriented toward development and the improvement of public service.