Effects of Reward Systems on Performance of Construction Workers in Ghana

Abstract

One major problem facing organizational managers all over the world and in all sectors of every economy, be they private or public, is how to obtain optimum performance from employees. This is possible when an employee on individual and/or group level is highly recognized and rewarded for performance. It is therefore relevant to explore the effects of reward systems on the performance of construction workers in Ghana. This is what has been done and reported in this paper. Contractors with D1K1 classification, working or undertaking projects in the Northern part of Ghana and had elaborate and distinct system of rewarding employees were involved in the survey. A combination of interview and questionnaire administration was used to gather data. Respondents were chosen, based on their level of exposure to site administration of construction projects, and involvement] of the construction project. Through hypothesis testing, the Pearson chi-square results indicate a significant positive association between reward systems and performance with asymptotic significance level of less than 0.05. The findings indicate non-financial rewards were as important as financial rewards to improve the performance of employees. This paper recommends a multiple function and integration of framework which seeks to attract, retain and motivate employees to induce higher performance.

Keywords: financial rewards, non-financial rewards, performance, construction industry.