An empirical study of staff reward preferences in a South African automotive manufacturing company

Abstract

It has been widely stated that traditional rewards are no longer sufficient to attract, motivate and retain staff. Employees increasingly want a Total Reward structure that consists not only of monetary items but also non-monetary items. Employee differences in terms of age, race, and gender may also influence the type of rewards that they may prefer. A reward must be valued by an employee for it to contribute to the attraction, motivation and retention of that employee. The aim of this study was to identify which categories of rewards employees view as most important. A secondary purpose was to establish which reward categories influence the attraction, motivation and retention of employees as well as the effect the different demographic profiles of the employees have on the reward preferences. A quantitative study using a range of statistical techniques was carried out. The collection of data was obtained through a questionnaire that was sent to be completed by employees from a large automotive company in South Africa. The results show that Non Statutory benefits followed by Remuneration were the most important reward categories for the respondents. Remuneration and Performance Recognition were the most important two rewards when attracting and retaining staff with Remuneration and Variable Pay the two most important rewards for motivating staff. In terms of the demographic variables notable differences were found between the respective race groups as well as the job level of the respondents. Organizations should thus look at the demographic profile of their staff when designing Total Rewards programs to ensure that they create the desired effect of motivating and retaining current staff and also of attracting potential staff members.