Reward presents all the tangible benefits and provisions an employee obtains as a part of "employment relationship" (Milkovich and Newman, 2004); while Malhotra et al. (2007) illustrate that "work rewards" indicate the benefits workers receive from their workplace and are considered the determinants of job commitment and satisfaction. Bratton and Gold (2003) also define "rewards" as all the cash, non-cash and psychological payments provided by an organization to employee in return for their contribution.
Organizational rewards refer to the probability of increased profits and productivity; extensive training that streamlined the main business processes and good communication between the employees and management (Larson, 2003).
Dimensions of rewards
Buch (2006) found four categories of rewards, that is; intrinsic, extrinsic, social and the organizational remuneration.
Intrinsic rewards refer to internal feelings of satisfaction, involvement, growth, autonomy and self-competence an individual experiences during his career (Allen et al., 2004). Extrinsic rewards are based upon organizational participation and performance and are further categorized into direct and indirect form (Westover and Taylor, 2008). Larson (2003) considered the direct rewards as "small tokens of appreciation" and the indirect ones as financial security and better future prospects. Social rewards are related to Alderfer's social, relatedness and affiliation theory (Alderfer, 1969). These according to Alderfer are associated with team based projects that reinforce the employee's ability to interact with peers in order to obtain the shared goal outcomes.
According to Lyons and Ben-Ora (2002), successful performance-based rewards are those that are perfectly began, implemented and aligned with total reward strategy. When organizations structure the "reward systems" entirely according to the intent of their employees, it happens to human instinct to work hard in order to achieve their own as well as the organizational objectives (Pfau and Kay, 2002).
Also, according to Cacioppe (1999), team-based rewards often fascinate most managers, but some are reluctant to implement because of its complexity and adversity on individual performance. Rewarding the whole team equally on their performance is termed as "team-based rewards", and this system of equally "rewarding" present "glue" that combines the whole team in one unit. According to Larson (2003) the process of "small token appreciation" and "recognition" is a better option for team members to develop an equitable monetary reward system but it is too dire to implement.
Total reward is now highly acknowledged in UK and market analyst reckoned it as "flavour of the month" and on top priority of UK human resource agenda (Armstrong and Brown, 2005).
Employees tend to join or leave the organizations by evaluating its culture (Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952). The interpretation of capital, length of vacation and rank varies across different countries; similarly a contrast effect is evident in terms of rewards (tangible/intangible) across cultures (Schneider and Barsoux, 1997).
Total rewards encapsulates all the aspects of work that is valued by employees whether it is related to healthy work environment, better opportunities of learning and development or the benefits packages linked to the pay. Therefore, total rewards combine the transactional rewards ( tangible rewards related to pay and benefits as a result of transaction between employee and employer) and the relational rewards that are associated to work environment, learning and development (Armstrong and Stephen, 2005). So, it is very true in saying that total rewards are considered the total sum of the cost of each component of reward package an employee gets from his organization, and total reward is everything that an employee perceives valuable as a result of his employment relationship (World at work, 2000).
The significance of labour turnover
Employee satisfaction is essential to the success of any business. A high rate of employee contentedness is directly related to a lower turnover rate. Thus, keeping employees' satisfied ... should be a major priority for every employer.
There are numerous reasons why employees can become discouraged with their jobs and resign, including high stress, lack of communication within the company, lack of recognition, or limited opportunity for growth (Gregory 2011).
Armstrong and Baron (1998) define motivation as "a set of processes concerned with the force that strengthens behaviour and directs it towards attaining some goal". Baker et al (1988) also postulate that motivation represents "those psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal directed".
According to Baker et al (ibid), Pay-for-performance systems are powerful motivators of human action, apparently so powerful that they induce counterproductive effects and the substitution of less effective motivational devices in organisations. The potential benefits of tying pay to performance are obvious, and it is surprising to economists that firms apparently resist introducing bonus-based compensation plans with enough financial "action" to have a major motivational effect (Baker et al, 1988). He added that one explanation for the lack of pay-for-performance plans, offered primarily by psychologists and behaviourists, is that monetary rewards are counter-productive.
Deci, (1972) argues that money actually lowers employee motivation, by reducing the "intrinsic rewards" that an employee receives from the job. Similarly, Slater (1980) concludes that "getting people to chase money produces nothing but people chasing money and using money as a motivator leads to a progressive degradation in the quality of everything produced." Kohn (1988), in his article, "Incentives Can Be Bad for Business," offers three reasons why merit-pay systems are counterproductive. First, rewards encourage people to focus narrowly on a task, in order to complete as quickly as possible, and to take few risks. Second, extrinsic rewards can erode intrinsic interest. Finally, people come to see themselves as being controlled by a reward.
Problem Statement
In the personal observation of the researcher, the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana at Tafo has relatively good conditions of service on paper. These include, a very good salary structure, nice working environment, clear promotional polices and other good incentives [source].
In the past few years however, a worrying trend has been observed. Employees of the institute, both staff and key management members exit the institution abruptly for "personal reasons". While staff attrition is not new to the institute, the rate at which this has occurred in the last few years is "alarming" as observed by the researcher. The researcher has noted through interpersonal interactions with staff members that the reason (uncorroborated) why this is happening is staff displeasure concerning some developments that have cropped up over the period. These include, attitude of senior staff towards new staff in their department with the "scare" of the new staff taking over their jobs, the bureaucratic style of administration, lack of adequate and appropriate working tools for example office space, computers, printers and others, accommodation provisions for new employees, un-cordial interpersonal relationship among senior staff, lack of cooperation and coordination among departments and the absence of orientation programmes for new staff to help them adjust to the system.
With as many as four (4) key senior staff in addition to scores of junior staff leaving the organisation in the past twelve (12) months, there is the need to find out if their departure is in any way linked with motivation and if so whether the reward system is adequately serving the purpose of effectively motivating staff.
The researcher hopes to, first of all, conduct a study to gather information scientifically in the work environment of the Cocoa Research Institute at Tafo. Having identified the issues, the researcher then hopes to map up a strategy of solutions, which will provide alternative courses of action and recommendations based on the outcome of the analysis.
Objectives
The objective of this study is to find out if the reward system at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana is in any way related to the current level of turnover at the organisation. Specifically, the study will seek to:
Establish the existence of a reward system,
Review the objectives for the establishment of the said system,
Establish the inclusion of motivation as an objective for the establishment of the system
Investigate the internal attributes of the organisation that are helpful and harmful in achieving this objective
Investigate the external conditions that are helpful and harmful to achieving this objective
Significance of the Study
The study will provide insight for understanding the reason why employees continue to depart the organisation when there exists a reward system that is supposed to keep them motivated. The study will also provide a body of knowledge on reward systems and motivation and provide useful suggestions in terms of designing better reward systems and strategies for the organisation.
Overview of Write-up
The project write up will be organised into six main chapters. Chapter One will deal with the background introduction to the study. The chapter will also present the problem statement, the objectives of the study, significance of the study as well as the organisation of the write up of the study.
Chapter Two presents a review of theoretical writing bearing on the subject matter of the case study. The chapter will also cover the case study methodology used for the study.
Chapter Three provides information on the institution's vision, mission, core values and objectives. The chapter will, in addition give an environmental analysis of the institute's operations. This will details on economics, political, regulatory, industry, market, competition and technology.
A situation analysis and SWOT analysis summary of the institution's Reward Management System will be provided in Chapter Four.
In Chapter Five, the Central Managerial Issue of the study will be identified. The chapter will attempt to link the issue to the environmental situation of the institution as well as the situation and SWOT analysis carried out
Chapter Six will provide alternative courses of action and recommendations based on the discussion in Chapter Five. In the same chapter proposals for the implementation of the Recommendations will be made.
