A comparative approach to performance management in France and Germany: the impact of the European and the country-specific environment

Employee performance management is an important human resource management practice in many countries. However, while we find the same vocabulary and similar agendas, there is evidence that the actual performance management reality varies. The aim of this paper is to take a comparative approach in order to identify, describe and explain different country-specific approaches of dealing with employee performance management and outline possible implications. The focus is on the impact of the European context, particularly the context of France and Germany as two major European economies. The result is that a strong influence of the legal and cultural environment can be observed in these two countries with respect to the various facets associated with employee performance management practices. Concerning future developments our discussion indicates that there are no clear indicators for a convergence across countries in Europe. Implications for practice, as well as for future research in global performance management, are derived.