Introduction
Motivating employees is vital in any organization since they play a crucial role in achieving its goals and objectives. One of the strategies that many companies have used to increase their workforces’ morale is the application of different types of rewards. The most common rewards are monetary and non-monetary rewards. Although the two forms of incentives are utilized in many organizations, there has been significant growth in non-monetary rewards in the recent past (Abdullah & Wan, 2013). Therefore, it is essential to conduct further research to enable managers to understand more about this type of incentive.
Research Objectives
The study will seek to achieve the following objectives:
- To investigate the benefits of using non-monetary rewards to motivate employees in the banking sector.
- To understand why the use of non-monetary rewards is on the rise in the recent past compared to the monetary rewards in the banking sector.
- To investigate how non-monetary rewards are related to the productivity of employees in the banking sector.
Research Questions
The study will be guided by the following research questions:
- What are the benefits of using non-monetary rewards to motivate employees in the banking sector?
- Why are the uses of non-monetary rewards on the rise in the recent past in comparison with the monetary rewards in the banking sector?
- How is the use of non-monetary rewards related to the productivity of employees in the banking sector?
Justification of the Research Questions
The first research question will be critical in the study since it enables the researcher to understand the reasons why organizations need to use non-monetary rewards, in addition to monetary rewards. It will focus on the unique benefits that employees and banks derive from using these modes of motivation. It is also related to question two that seek the reveal the increased use of non-monetary rewards in many organizations nowadays. The second research question will investigate the factors that make many human resource managers use non-monetary rewards instead of monetary rewards to boost the morale of their employees. Finally, the third question is also critical since it seeks to analyze the relationship between the use of non-monetary rewards and the productivity of employees in the banking sector. By answering this question, it will be possible for managers to know whether non-monetary rewards are better than monetary rewards in increasing the productivity of their workforces. It will compare the benefits of monetary and non-monetary rewards in enabling employees to increase their productivity in an organization. Therefore, the three research questions will be critical in understanding the relationship between employees’ performance and the use of non-monetary rewards in the banking sector.
Justification of the Selected Topic
Every company is concerned with the strategies it can use to increase the productivity of its workforce to improve its overall performance. The increased competition in the banking sector requires players to enhance their performances continuously to remain sustainable. Many banks have also realized that sufficient human capital is one of the most important tools to remain competitive in the market (Abdullah & Wan, 2013). Hence, banking managers would like to know the best incentives to motivate their employees. Most of the banks in the past have used monetary incentives to reward their high-performing workers. This study will provide vital information to such managers as they apply non-monetary rewards in the future.
Literature Review
There is significant evidence to show the increased use of non-monetary rewards in the last few years. Although many organizations have applied monetary rewards to motivate their employees, there is an emerging trend where managers now prefer the use of non-monetary rewards (Abdullah & Wan, 2013). The increased use of non-monetary rewards can be attributed to the long-term benefits of these incentives. They have a long-lasting impact on the recipients, which may not be found in the monetary rewards (Zani et al., 2011). Most employees are likely to forget the impact of a monetary gift or reward within a few weeks or months. Employees can use such gifts to pay their bills or buy commodities they use daily. Consequently, they do have not anything special with monetary rewards since they view them just like their ordinary salaries (Abdullah & Wan, 2013). However, non-cash incentives such as gift cards, award points, merchandise, or foreign trips have long-term effects on the life of an employee. Therefore, many managers would like to give a reward that an employee will remember for at least five years.
Studies have also shown that non-monetary incentives can increase the performance of employees in an organization. They can motivate individual workers to improve their performance in both the short-run and long run (Zaidi & Abbas, 2011). It can also help to reduce the rate of turnover in the organization since it increases the job satisfaction of the employees.
The existing studies provide a general overview of the relationship between these variables. This study will investigate the real connection between non-monetary rewards and the performance of individuals and teams in the banking sector. It will close the current research gap by analyzing the impact of various non-cash incentives on the performance of employees in the banking sector. The research will also identify the specific reasons why many managers also prefer these incentives in comparison with monetary rewards.
Methodology
The study will apply a literature synthesis methodology to answer the research questions. This approach will be appropriate since it will enable the researcher to access a broad range of data that have been collected by experienced scholars. It will also allow the researcher to collect qualitative and quantitative data to understand the relationship between the two variables. Secondary research relies on published articles, textbooks, and other business publications to investigate a phenomenon (Babbie, 2014). There will be criteria for selecting the secondary sources that will be applied in the study. For example, the sources will be peer-reviewed and published in the last five years. These criteria will enhance the validity of the study’s findings. The data will be grouped and coded for further analysis using common keywords and statistical tools.
Expected Outcomes
The researcher expects to find the existence of a positive relationship between the use of non-monetary rewards and increased employees’ performance in the banking sector. More managers in the banking sectors will also be expected to use these types of incentives in comparison with cash incentives due to their lasting impact on their employees. Many employees will be expected to prefer non-monetary rewards because of the emotional attachments they associate with such gifts and rewards.
References
Abdullah, A. A., & Wan, H. L. (2013). Relationships of non-monetary incentives, job satisfaction, and employee job performance. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(4), 1085-1097.
Babbie, E. (2014). The Basics of Social Research (6th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage.
Zaidi, F. B., & Abbas, Z. (2011). A study on the impact of rewards on employee motivation in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, 3(3), 978-993.
Zani, R. M., Rahim, N. A., Junos, S., Samanol, S., Ahmad, S. S., Merican, F., & Ahmad, I. N. (2011). Comparing the impact of financial and non-financial rewards on organizational motivation. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(4), 197-210.