An empirical study of the reward preferences of South African employees

SA Journal of Human Resource Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title An empirical study of the reward preferences of South African employees
 
Creator Snelgar, Robin J. Renard, Michelle Venter, Danie
 
Subject human resource management; reward management Human resource management; compensation management; total rewards; quantitative; South Africa
Description Orientation: Adapting traditional reward systems to focus on employee preferences has become a necessity as companies strive to attract, motivate and retain a skilled and high performing workforce.Research purpose: The aim of the study was to identify certain categories of rewards that employees consider to be most important, including base pay, contingency pay, benefits, performance and career management, quality work environment, and work–home integration. The impact of these reward categories on an organisation’s ability to attract, motivate and retain employees was explored, together with the influence of demographic variables on reward preferences.Motivation for the study: There is much debate over whether reward packages should be tailor-made to suit individual employees. It has been argued that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach with regard to rewards is no longer effective.Research design, approach and method: A structured questionnaire, based on the total rewards model, was used to achieve the objectives of the study. A sample of 250 employees from 11 medium-sized to large-sized organisations participated in the study.Main findings: The results showed that base pay is deemed to be the most preferred reward component amongst respondents; however, they are most dissatisfied with the level at which this reward is provided by their current employers. Base pay is also the most important reward when attracting and retaining employees. Differences between reward preferences and demographic variables, including age, gender and job level, were found.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should design their reward systems according to the preferences of their employees by focusing on base pay and contingency or variable pay. These rewards will also serve to retain them; although, to motivate employees, non-cash awards and recognition should be emphasised.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to literature on reward preferences, which is lacking in a South African context. It also provides support for segmentation of rewards based on certain demographic variables.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2013-04-24
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Quantitative; Empirical investigation
Format text/html application/octet-stream text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajhrm.v11i1.351
 
Source SA Journal of Human Resource Management; Vol 11, No 1 (2013); 14 pages 2071-078X 1683-7584
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/351/607 https://sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/351/608 https://sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/351/609 https://sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/351/606
 
Coverage Port Elizabeth; Johannesburg — Age; Gender; Racial group; Marital status; Level of education; Number of dependents in the household; Household income per month; Job level; Job category; Years of service
Rights Copyright (c) 2013 Robin J. Snelgar, Michelle Renard, Danie Venter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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