Effects of Rewards on Employee Motivation
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction defines as a feeling of fulfillment or enjoyment that a person derives from their job (Cole and Kelly 2011). Kreitner and Kinicki (2010) noted from an analysis of studies done on over 1000 workers, there was considerable positive attachment between motivation and job satisfaction. According to Robbins and Judge (2010), pay is noted as one of the major facets of job-satisfaction. Further states that the relationship between a salary and job satisfaction is rather interesting especially for those who live below the poverty mark in that pay correlates with their overall happiness and job satisfaction.
According to Kinicki and Fugate (2012), a survey done on employees, showed that one of the main causes of job satisfaction is need fulfillment or the aspect of one’s job that is of great importance in their job satisfaction adding that compensation and benefits were some of the top choices mentioned by the employees. Apart from helping people in attaining their basic needs, money is also said to be instrumental in individuals attaining their higher-level need satisfaction (Luthans 2011). This is because employees view pay as a way of reflecting how managers view their contribution towards the organization. This is an indicator that pay is indeed one of the major factors which influence job satisfaction. Having a fair pay, fair benefits as well as fair promotion opportunities are some of the guidelines that organizations could use to enhance job satisfaction (Luthans 2011). Quick and Nelson (2013) also concede that pay is one of the job dimensions that are related to job satisfaction.
Colquitt, et al., (2010) concur that pay satisfaction in reference to the feelings that employees have about their pay including if it’s what they feel they deserve, whether it is secure and adequate for both luxury and normal Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory (Robbins and Judge, 2010). Employees generally compare what they are paid in comparison with their colleagues and also based on their job duties. However Quick and Nelson (2013) point out that pay is just marginally relative to job satisfaction as it does not always follow that those who are well paid are automatically satisfied with their jobs.
Alternative Rewards
Luthans (2011) agrees that today, money is the most dominant of an organization’s reward system. This can be in the form of salaries, incentive pay and bonuses. Rewarding human beings in general with money, according to McShane and Von Glinow (2011) is among the oldest and most widely practiced applied performances. Further states that financial awards are what align goals of employees with those of the organization. According to Phillips and Gully (2012), pay-for-performance in form of money can be one powerful motivator as it determines how people are able to satisfy most of their wants and needs. Financial rewards can be in form of individual, team or organizational rewards (McShane and Von Glinow, 2011).
Further authors acknowledge that money generates varying emotions mostly negative such as depression and anxiety, and further note many experts are of the opinion that because of its symbolic value today, money is a more important motivator than it was before. Moreover In view of this, while giving out financial rewards, money can influence emotions, and shape people’s self-concept since it is more than just a means of exchange between an employer and an employee.
However, money is not the only motivator of good performance or the greatest for that matter as Andersen (2012) maintains. Further notes that other motivators such as independence and flexibility rewards. In addition, other alternative motivators to money are such as recognition, non- financial rewards and simple gestures of appreciation (Phillips and Gully, 2012). Others are such as benefits (welfare and health, paid time-off as well as retirement packages) and personal growth career development, training, work-life balance and performance management) which have proved to be effective on employee engagement (Kinicki and Fugate, 2012). According to Newstrom (2011), performance appraisals play a major role in an organization’s reward system. According to Bukusi, (2013, p. 99) “managing people is not just about pay rewards and benefits. It is more about developing people you need to run your organization’s business. Managing people is about developing HR to access the resources the leader knows they have and empowering them to do what they can to contribute to the success of the organization”.
Application in the Workplace
Study and researched on effects of rewards on employee motivation of 19 different banking employees in the banking sector of Pakistan. In this study each factor (Performance and Productivity, Employee Commitment and Retention, Job Satisfaction and Alternative Rewards) associates with the rewards of the employees and employee motivation of banking sector of Pakistan. Research found that effects of rewards and motivation factors have been used to motivate employees to a great extent. But refusal relationship between employee motivation and qualification of banks employees. Cleanly, change in reward offer will have same effect of change in employee work motivation and with higher level rewards. (Shafiq and Naseem, 2011).
References
Andersen, E., 2012. Leading So People Will Follow. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bukusu, A., 2013. How To Lead Corporate Transformation: How To Transform A Business Into A Market Leader. 13th ed. Nairobi, Kenya: Africa Amokai Agency.
Cole, G. and Kelly, P., 2011. Management Theory And Practice. 7th ed. Andover: Cengage Learning.
Colquitt, J., LePine, J. and Wesson, M., 2010. Organizational Behavior: Essentials For Improving Performance And Commitment. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Kinicki, A. and Fugate, M., 2012. Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills & Best Practices. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A., 2010. Organizational Behaviour. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin Inc.
Luthans, F., 2011. Organizational Behaviour: An Evidence Based Approach. 12th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
McShane, S. and Von Glinow, M., 2011. Organizational Behaviour. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin Inc.
Newstrom, J., 2011. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior
At Work. 13th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Phillips, J. and Gully, S., 2012. Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Quick, J. and Nelson, D., 2013. Principles Of Organizational Behavior: Realities And Challenges. 8th ed. Andover: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Robbins, S. and Judge, T., 2010. Essentials Of Organizational Behavior. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Shafiq, M. and Naseem, M., 2011. Association between Reward and Employee
Motivation: A Case Study Banking Sector of Pakistan. SSRN Electronic
Journal, [online] Available at:
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228214905_Association_between_Reward_and_Employee_Motivation_A_Case_Study_Banking_Sector_of_Pakistan>
[Accessed 06 May 2021].
Motivation is an important factor for every work environment, managers need to have employees or teams who are working to achieve organization goals & mission more efficient & effective manner also employer is responsible to inspire employees on that purpose(Duah,2011).
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. However, according to Terera and Ngirande (2014) the relationship between rewards and job satisfaction is insignificant. Other than rewards, there are other factors that contribute to the job satisfaction of employees. Organizations should therefore investigate on other factors that result in the satisfaction amongst employees so that they can be incorporated in the retention strategy.
DeleteAgree with you on the facts highlighted on the job satisfaction. Many studies have demonstrated an unusually large impact on the job satisfaction on the motivation of workers, while the level of motivation has an impact on productivity, and hence also on performance of business organizations. There is a considerable impact of the employees perceptions for the nature of his work and the level of overall job satisfaction. Financial compensation has a great impact on the overall job satisfaction of employees (Aziri, 2011)
ReplyDeleteYes Chamara, the importance of job satisfaction cannot be overstated. In addition to reducing employee turnover, absenteeism and therefore costs, companies can observe an increase in productivity, employee morale and greater knowledge sharing among employees (Bathena, 2018).
DeleteI do agree with you Uddika. Job satisfaction is vital to retain efficient and experienced employees in an organization. Currently, many organizations try to understand the variables which keep the balance between employee commitment and performance of the organization. In this context, Danish and Usman (2010) have stated that “reward and recognition programs serve as the most contingent factor in keeping employees’ self esteem high and passionate”. Further, their study showed that reward and recognition have great impact on motivation of the employees.
ReplyDeleteExactly Oshadee, Rewards can be defined as “potential sources of rewards to employee” (Kallenberg, 1977). It represents what an employee want to gain from work or what they perceive. In past researches have shown that how job rewards are binding with strong and striving for job satisfaction. Gerald and Dorothee, (2014) found that rewards are significantly related to professionalism and job satisfaction.
DeleteAgreed Uddika. Employees are motivated from financial and non-financial rewards. Financial incentives will improve the employee commitment towards organizational goals and improve the level of productivity and innovation (Michie et al., 2002).
ReplyDeleteYes Chanaka. Every organization either public or private is goal oriented and all efforts are geared towards the successful attainment of those goals and objectives. Therefore, for any organization to record any degree of meaningful success in the pursuit of its goals and aspirations, it must have the ability to create values (motivation) enough to compensate for the burden imposed upon employees. Such value or motivators can come in the form of good training, facilities or incentives such as fringe benefits, promotions, status symbols etc, to satisfy the needs of the employees for enhanced performance (Adi, 2000).
DeleteAgreed with you Uddika, According to the study of Idowu & O, (2017) it shows that employees differ in their preference for rewards following a performance appraisal. Organizations should therefore adapt a more personal approach in linking performance appraisal results to rewards and incentives. This could contribute significantly towards boosting of employee motivation as a result of improved levels of satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteYes Sachith I agree with you. Literally, the term rewards can be defined as a particular monetary return, object or event that an employee receives in exchange for his/her work or for having done something well (Schultz, 2006). However, there is a second conception of rewards that relates to the subjective feelings of liking, pleasure or satisfaction(Schultz, 2006)). Therefore in work places there are several reward systems which intends to make the satisfaction in emplyoees.
DeleteYes Uddika agreed with your points, Motivation is a drive that influences people to work hard. It is vital to boosting productivity and performance (Korlen, Essen, Lindgren, Wahlin, &
ReplyDeleteSchwarz, 2017). A reward is a tool to recognize an employee for doing an exceptional job. It promotes the perpetual improvement of performance that leads to career growth and a boost of morale (Ngwa, Adeleke, Agbaeze, Ghasi, & Imhanrenialena (2019).
Agreed Hashanika,Every leader and organization realizes the importance of a positive workplace environment. Developing a good workplace culture will not happen over night, it will take some time. There is no exact science to estimate how long the it will take to improve motivation for employees. The results of using good employee motivation techniques will outweigh the length of time. Recognition, Talk to employees about career plans, Keep thank you notes, Movie passes, Birthday acknowledgements, Take for coffee and lunch, Make time for employees and Inspirational stories , sayings can use as modern employee motivational techniques (Singh, 2017).
DeleteAgree with you. Most employees need motivation to feel good about their jobs and perform optimally. Some employees are money motivated while others find recognition and rewards personally motivating. Motivation levels within the workplace have a direct impact on employee productivity. Workers who are motivated and excited about their jobs carry out their responsibilities to the best of their ability and production numbers increase as a result(Ganta,V.C.2014).
ReplyDeleteAgreed, But also Rewarding employees, who do not fall under the top performers depends on their intrinsic or extrinsic motivation triggers. Myriad IT companies, provide monetary benefits and onsite opportunties. It is not imperative that only the best get the career growth, care through training, skip level meets and the compensation to keep them motivated. Stay interviews on this chunk of employees may reveal more (Sunitha, 2016)
DeleteAgreed and like to add, Morse (2003) notes that, in most cases there exist an ‘extrinsic incentive bias’ which is perpetuated by both managers and employees. As noted by Atchison (2003), this bias does not stem from reality but are rather rooted in myths surrounding employee satisfaction. You don't get what you hope for, wish for or beg for. You get what you reward. Reward Systems (2008).
ReplyDeleteAgree Erand ,Adding more to your content,Motivation might be extrinsic where by a person is inspired by outside forces, other people or event that transpire. Motivation can also be intrinsic where by the inspiration comes from within a person the desire to improve at a certain activity. Intrinsic motivation tends to push people more forcefully and the accomplishments are more fulfilling (Bernard, 2000). Therefore, PepsiCo uses Kaizen / Continuous Improvement model to sustain their employee motivation. Further, they use employee knowledge to develop its leadership. More specifically, PepsiCo promotes employees to leadership positions. From these things, PepsiCo tends to increase their employee morale (Herrera, 2009) (PepsiCo, 2020).
DeleteAgree, Adding to your views, money is the basic factor that the employees are servicing in the business organizations (Thomas, 2016). Financial rewards are one of the easiest and most frequently used methods to manage employee performance (Shields et al., 2015).
ReplyDeleteWhile agreeing on above point, “Money is the main motivational factor”. Money is motivated by the fact that it is directly or indirectly linked to satisfying many needs. If income is regular, it satisfies the basic need for survival and security. It can also serve the need for self-esteem (it's a visible sign of appreciation) and status— money can set you apart from your fellows in a way and can buy you things they can't afford. The less desirable but nonetheless prevalent drives of acquisition and greed are satisfied by money. So, cash may have no intrinsic meaning in itself, but it acquires significant motivational power because so many intangible goals are symbolized. It acts as a symbol in various ways for different people and at different times for the same person. Pay is often a dominant factor in employer choice, and pay is an important consideration when people decide to stay with an organization or not (Armstrong, 2010).
DeleteYes ,I agree with you ,motivation plays a vital role in any organization. Motivation Factors are Intrinsic Factors that will increase employees’ job satisfaction; while Hygiene Factors are Extrinsic Factors to prevent any employees’ dissatisfaction. Herzberg furthered that full supply of Hygiene Factors will not necessary result in employees’ job satisfaction. In order to increase employees’ performance or productivity, Motivation factors must be addressed (Yusoff, et.al, 2013).
ReplyDeleteYes Gagana,Adding more to content,Extrinsic motivation is a construct that pertains whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome. (Ryan and Deci, 1985).Intrinsic motivation can be enhanced by job or role design. Therefore “job itself must provide sufficient variety, sufficient complexity, sufficient challenge and sufficient skill to engage the abilities of the worker” (Katz ,1964).
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