George Brady

Birmingham City University

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Chapter 1; Introduction

1.1 Area under investigation

As the topic signifies importance of rewards in employees performance, this study

investigates employee motivation that includes all factors in the employee and his work

environment that lead to performance-related behaviour (Jaworski et al., 2018, p.1).

Motivation gives direction to the behaviour of the employee towards or away from a goal.

Work psychology differentiates between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. According

toIdowu, (2017, p.15), the term employee motivation stands for the influence of the manager

or the company on the employee. The goal is to motivate them to maintain, develop or

change their performance. This influence can take place at different levels. On the material

and immaterial level, e.g. work equipment, remuneration and company health management

plays a role. On the psychological level, the management style of the superiors and the

interpersonal relationship to the colleagues are decisive, while on the private level, the family

and the work-life balance are decisive (Aboelmaged, 2018). On the other hand, the rewarding

employee is a double-edged sword.

According to Kanfer et al., (2017, p.338) in order for an organisation to

achieve good results, certain underlying factors must work. One of the most important is a

good working climate that should feel satisfied for the employees. It is, above all, a holistic

experience of the communication that takes place in the form of conversations, social

interaction, and the flow of information that employees experience in the workplace and their

thoughts about this. Of course, the work climate can change, and it looks different in different

workplaces and workgroups. Nevertheless, Al Mamun, and Hasan, (2017, p.63) stated that

there is a work climate that several people in a workplace share, while each individual always

perceives how they experience this.

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The conditions for a good work climate can be of both an external nature (time,

resources, official goals, environment, clients, etc.) and an internal nature (people's

perceptions, attitudes, thoughts, behaviours, informal collaboration patterns, etc.). These

internal and external factors and the influence from the outside world are required to

understand organisational processes and results (Bakker, and Leiter, 2017, p.67). The

proposed study aims to evaluate usefulness of rewards and their influence on employee

motivation. At present, Idowu, (2017, p.15) determines that the systems of motivation and

incentives for employees are finding worthy application both in many commercial

organisations and in government agencies. For each employee, incentive methods should

initially be different. Setting up the system for each employee will greatly complicate the

procedure for calculating wages, and therefore, in each field of activity, you can find a

generalised system of material incentives for employees.

1.2 Specific area

The specific area taken under consideration is construction industry.

1.3 Research Aims and Objectives

This study aims to examine the role of rewards and recognition in motivating

employees. In addition, the study examines which of these factors, whether pay or

recognition, has the greatest impact on employee motivation and satisfaction.

 To establish whether rewards motivate employees;

 To classify the relationship between rewards and employees performance

 To identify what kinds of rewards employees consider most beneficial; and

 To identify suitable recommendations to make reward system more effective

1.4Research Questions

The research question for the proposed study will be

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 How can rewards enhance and motivate employees to perform better?

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Chapter 2; Literature Review

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the theories that have shaped the

understanding of motivation, emphasising the content of motivation theories. In addition, the

chapter provides a detailed overview of the overall award management plan and the support

that the performance management process can provide to such a program. Given the purpose

of this research, it is important to understand the meaning of awards and recognitions, as they

are often used interchangeably, but the literature shows that there is a unique and tangible

difference between these concepts.

Osborne, and Hammoud, (2017, p.4) stated that it is, in principle, one of the

mechanisms that help develop the performance of the work team, motivate it and raise its

morale, but, on the other hand, and when it is not based on clear and objective criteria, it can

break the team's back and create a toxic and negative work environment. The fact that

employees thrive in their workplace is a good start as there are surveys that show that an

organisation's success depends on the employees' well-being. Satisfaction in the workplace

depends, among other things, on how the employee is integrated into the already existing

group. If the integration in the group is strong, this can provide better well-being for the

employee, which in turn leads to greater commitment, which increases performance.

According to Gopalan et al., (2017, p. 020043) the company can engage its employees by

using rewards as a motivational tool. This has proven to be a good driving factor that helps

the company achieve its goals.

As per Alsawaier, (2018) by the employee being rewarded for a job well done and the

company, in turn, achieving its goals, one can speak of a win-win situation. An industry that

produces services and places great trust in its employees is the banks. The employees have

direct and personal contact with the bank's customers, and their motivation and attitude are

crucial for a good customer relationship. In addition to the formal rewards banks have, it
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would be interesting to find out what informal rewards are used in the organisation. These

have proven to be a way for companies to motivate employees to perform better and keep

them within the organisation and interesting tasks and formal reward systems. Given the

changing world, the motivational tools that many managers seem to know today may no

longer be motivating and grounded in reality. Information is now easily accessible to

everyone, awareness is high, and employees know their value. Companies are being forced

more and more to change and make an effort to retain competent staff (Pham et al., 2019,

p.386).

As the study aims to determine importance of reward in improving employee performance, it

is necessary to first evaluate needs to rewards and their significance. Various studies have

been able to conclude that If a manager wants to become an excellent leader, he must first

observe the different incentive effects of external and internal rewards. Extrinsic rewards

refer to tangible rewards or incentive measures, usually linked to the completion of

corresponding tasks by employees. Intrinsic rewards can bring employees inner

encouragement, joy and a sense of accomplishment at work. Material rewards and incentives

can promote short-term behavior, but if they want to produce long-term effectiveness, leaders

need to pay attention to more feasible personal factors of employees, to promote the internal

incentive mechanism. There are differences based on individual employees. For leaders, the

key lies in whether they can discover the motivation factors that effectively promote different

subordinates. This requires real effort to understand each employee, rather than just finding

ways to manipulate their behavior.If leaders do those things internally, then they will greatly

affect external performance. When employees feel that the leader is helping them improve

their work skills, promoting them to become independent completers, and treating them like

teachers, coaches, and supporters, then leaders and employees can build better partnerships.
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It is this kind of relationship that promotes employees' willingness to work and all aspects of

performance.This really requires effort and requires leaders to have a high degree of

emotional intelligence, awareness and keen sense to detect employees' likes and dislikes. It

also requires observing employees every day to understand their habits, so as to understand

who they are and what they care about. Although it takes time, it is not wasted.

According to van der Kolk, et al., (2019, p.901) rewards as a holistic concept can be

divided into two groups:external rewards and internal rewards. External rewards (material)

are characterised by the fact that these rewards are linked to financial compensation paid by

the company for, for example, study trips, participation fees, free health examinations and

bonuses. Prestige is also included in this definition, such as larger service spaces, carpet on

the floor and larger company cars. Inner rewards (intangible) are the self-satisfaction and joy

that an individual feels over a certain situation. Internal rewards are usually about the task

and the work itself. An example of an inner reward is when an environmental fighter finds

satisfaction in doing something good for the environment.

As per Kalhoro et al., (2017, p.9) an internal reward can also be to have control over

one's work, be involved in decisions that must be made, and influence the decisions that have

been made. Rewards can be further divided into two additional categories: fixed

remuneration and variable remuneration. By fixed compensation means a recurring

compensation and, to some extent, is independent of one's performance. Whereas Wuryani et

al., (2021, p.365), motivation, satisfaction and achievement are closely related. An example is

an employee who applies for a certain profession because he or she is motivated to work in

that particular sector, which leads to spending extra time, energy and effort on his or her

work.
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This, in turn, means that the employee's managers will notice this and consider that

the employee is performing well. Hansen,and Pihl-Thingvad, (2019, p.918) stated that

performance is an important prerequisite for promotion. The satisfaction in the work leads to

the person being motivated to perform a better job, which leads to an increasing inefficiency.

A good reward system leads to a positive connection between these three concepts.Thus, the

function of the rewards in this respect is a strengthening of the motivation to increase

efficiency. By finding out what rewards the employee's value, the company or leader can

better control the employees' behaviours to work more efficiently and motivate. In this way,

the company's efficiency and conditions for achieving its goals can increase. According to

Madhani, (2021, p.43) the theories about the design of reward systems are based on the

premise that they should contribute to its financial results. A reward system aims to increase

motivation, increase team spirit, improve cooperation, and increase knowledge about the

company's results. Furthermore, the purpose is to reward the individual for good quality,

create community, retain competent staff and reward good performance.

According to Zhang et al., (2019, p.5408) needs and motivation theories among the

most well-known motivation theories in work contexts are Maslow's hierarchy of needs and

Hertzberg's two-factor theory, which is a variant of these needs transformed into hygiene

factors and motivators. One way to involve employees and get them to stick to their

behaviour is to find out their needs and satisfy them. The theories have a common starting

point through the assumption that all people share the same basic needs. On the other hand,

they differ in terms of the needs that drive people's behaviour. According to these theories,

leaders can influence their employees to behave in a certain way and reinforce this by

identifying and satisfying their needs. The theory of expectation develops this approach and

for reasoning to understand the process that leads to a certain behaviour Maslow's hierarchy

of needs
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According to Maslow, people are motivated by five different needs: survival, security

needs, feeling connected to other people, the need for self-esteem and the need for self-

realisation. Maslow believes that one can understand a person's behaviour based on what

needs in the hierarchy they are trying to satisfy. The needs of the lower levels of the hierarchy

must have been met before the needs of the higher levels can be used as motivation (Rai et

al., 2018).Leaders who want to use Maslow's hierarchy of needs must know where their

employees are and ensure that the lower needs in the hierarchy have been satisfied before

motivating employees with higher needs as self-realisation. There must be no unequal

matches with where the leader thinks the employee is and where the employee is, which leads

to the leader's efforts being in vain.

On the other hand, Herzberg developed his two-factor theory through a series of

interviews with auditors and engineers. The purpose of the interviews was to find out what

satisfied the interviewees in their work. To get an overall picture, he also asked what factors

created dissatisfaction in their work. These factors differed radically from each other. The

factors that could lead to increased job satisfaction were termed motivators: performance,

recognition, work per se, responsibility, promotion opportunities, and development. The

factors that were perceived negatively led to dissatisfaction or indifference and were referred

to as hygiene factors and consisted of, for example, supervision, working conditions,

colleagues, salary, approach and job security. The factors that were perceived negatively led

to dissatisfaction, while factors that were not taken into account showed that they were

already satisfied. An example of this is that when the kitchen is cleaned, you often do not

notice it, but when it is messy, it is noticeable and leads to dissatisfaction. Herzberg's survey

showed that employees' motivation did not increase if the manager tried to change the

hygiene factors. However, the manager could change almost all hygiene factors without this,

leading to increased employee effort (De Sousa Sabbagha et al., 2018, p.136).
 Research Proposal 10

According to This Theory, Victor, and Hoole, (2017, p.1) stated that the Key to

Improving Employee Efforts is to keep the hygiene factors at an acceptable level and instead

focus on increasing the motivators as much as possible.By using Maslow's hierarchy of

needs, the manager can learn how to improve an employee's performance by linking an

employee's behaviour with the satisfaction of his or her individual needs. The authors will use

the hierarchy of needs as a guide to investigate whether the manager is aware that different

people have different needs and that these needs change over time and change depending on

the situation that arises. By examining what level an individual is at in the hierarchy of needs,

the authors can determine whether he is receptive to what Herzberg's two-factor theory deals

with: what factors are required to make people feel comfortable and motivated in a

workplace. In other words, find out what can affect people's behaviour.With the help of

Herzberg's two-factor theory, the authors want to investigate which rewards employees

perceive as motivating and which they do not perceive as motivating. The expectation theory

states that leaders can motivate their employees by understanding their process to determine

if their behaviours will lead to a desirable reward. The authors want to investigate whether

the manager understands or knows what motivates his employees with this theory (Graves,

and Sarkis, 2018, p.576).

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Chapter 3; Methodology

3.1 Research Methods

Primary and secondary data are two different types of sources through which

information is obtained. Primary data is information collected by the person or persons

conducting first hand knowledge. This is information is often collected to get a basis for

answering specific questions from which one should then be able to conclude results gateherd

from the first hand information. Primary data can be collected through qualitative and

quantitative surveys. Qualitative methods refer to analyzing non-numerical data. These are

often data that cannot be expressed in numbers, such as descriptions of events and people in

terms of behavioural patterns and meanings (Williams et al., 2017). Quantitative methods

mean that specific factors are examined rather. Compare data from a large group that

answered the same questions, such as surveys. Secondary data is secondary information. This

data is already documented but has been produced for other purposes (Fàbregues et al., 2021,

p.e0252014).The secondary data used in the survey is mainly student literature. The authors

believe that this increases the reliability of the information, among other things. The authors

therefore will use scientific articles. The internet pages will be difficult to assess the

reliability as it is not known for what purpose the material was posted. The authors will

mainly use the websites of large and well-known companies, which they believe proves the

reliability when the information has been reviewed. For this study, secondary research

methods will be used for evaluation of importance of rewards system in improving employee

performance.

3.2 Research Philosophy

The main task of the researcher is to choose the correct methodology for scientific

research. Often, the choice of methodology is reduced to highly specialised research methods

or practical approaches. Meanwhile, comprehension and understanding of specific scientific

 Research Proposal 12

and practical problems are possible abstractlycalled philosophical methodology (Sukadari et

al., 2021).

Despite all the differences in content, positivist phenomenological philosophy is

identical in its fundamental essence since it sees the criterion of truth in the subject's

sensations. Postmodernists, denying the existence of any universally valid truths, bring this

position to the point of absurdity. Their thesis "each has its truth" is incompatible with

character and the common sense of everyday consciousness and, consequently, with the

existence of human society (Sukadari et al., 2021).

3.3 Research Approach

For the purposed study, deductive approach will be selected. The purpose of

Deductive approach is to identify the symptoms of problems through the description. As the

subject cannot be fully described, the facts must be chosen carefully. The facts will be

collected according to pre-established criteria and in order to demonstrate the link between

the interests. As a descriptive study of a specific problem provides a general understanding of

the phenomenon, which can be used to understand other specific problems, this approach is

useful and acceptable (Yücesoy et al., 2020, p.12).

3.4 Search Strategy

When collecting data, a number of books and articles will be mainly used. The

Internet will be used, among other things, to retrieve information. The keywords for

information retrieval were motivation, reward, reward system, motivational psychology,

leadership and work motivation. Web-based search tools like Google was primarily used.

3.5 Data Analysis

For proposed study, data analysis will be done using content analysis. Content

analysis is a formalised method of collecting data from secondary sources and qualitative and
 Research Proposal 13

quantitative content analysis.The quantitative analysis establishes the frequency of

occurrence in the text of certain units (characteristics) of the content.

On the other hand, the qualitative analysis makes it possible to conclude even based

on a single case of the presence or absence of a certain content characteristic. Content

analysis can be used as the main method to obtain the most important information about the

phenomenon under study, as a method used in combination with others, as an auxiliary

method or procedure for processing data obtained in other studies (Chyrun et al., 2018, p.

139).From the point of view of linguists and computer scientists, content analysis is a typical

example of applied information analysis of a text, which boils down to extracting from the

whole variety of information available in it some components of particular interest to the

researcher and presenting them in a form that is convenient for perception and subsequent

analysis. Nevertheless, content analysis occupies a special place among desk research

methodsbecause it is the most technologically advanced of them, that is, the most suitable for

automatic monitoring of large information flows. In addition, content analysis is flexible

enough to fit a very diverse range of other types of research into its framework (Kleinheksel

et al., 2020).

3.6 Ethical Consideration

Ethics are moral principles or values by which an individual or group is guided in

their behaviour. When selecting secondary data, the researcher assumes certain ethical

obligations, ensuring that they are suitable for the solution of the research problem posed.

Only data found to meet these criteria should be used. It is very important to observe moral

principles when collecting data (Chenneville, and Schwartz-Mette, 2020, p.644). Data is

considered unethical if it was collected in any way that harms respondents or infringes on

their freedom. Ethical problems also arise in the case of an overly critical attitude of users of
 Research Proposal 14

secondary information to information contrary to their interests and views (Arifin, 2018,

p.30).

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