Impact of Rewards on Employee Behaviour

Abstract

There are many factors that influence employee behaviour at work.  In the competitive business world, organizations realize that intellectual capital is critical to business success and to keep ahead with frequent demand for change, there is need to attract, retain and engage the best minds. Behavior is widely determined by the level of perception born of value attached to the outcomes of work.  It has been known that individuals adjust to their working terms and conditions aiming for fairness so as to give back as much value as they receive.  Poor rewards will be reflected by negative behaviours or lack enthusiasm towards work among employees while well rewarded employees are equivalently productive, efficient and creative. Data was collected from 108 employees selected thorugh stratified random sampling and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. This study established that rewards significantly affect individuals’ behaviors either positively or negatively and recommends that organizations should identify the kind of rewards that are more suitable to employees in different scenarios. The Authors view rewards as the main recipe for initiating positive change in employee attitude in favour of the organization and its goals.  Managers can therefore employ this tool to develop, build and sustain desired culture entailing high performance, commitment to work and loyalty while discouraging negative behaviours such as absenteeism and lateness.

Keywords: Total reward, reward system, performance, absenteeism, lateness and turnover.