An assessment of the relationship between reward management and employee motivation in a sports retail outlet store in the midland region.

Abstract

The concept of total rewards has been the subject of much discussion in the past with confusion existing about what the term actually means. According to World at Work (2010), total rewards are all of the tools used to attract, motivate and retain employees. Total rewards approaches also recognise that employees have diverse needs which contribute to their motivation (Gilmore & Williams, 2009). It is for this reason that both the concepts of total rewards and employee motivation correlate. There was quite a vast amount of literature on both the concepts of total rewards and motivation individually but very little on their impact together. Considering the two topics are of such importance to each other emphasises how they have the potential to be interesting yet complex areas to research. Therefore the title of this dissertation is: An assessment of the relationship between reward management and employee motivation in a sports retail outlet store in the midland region. The author chose to conduct a case study of the chosen sports retail outlet. Participants came from different stores and this allowed different opinions to be gained from within the company. A mixed method approach was used in order to obtain the relevant quantitative and qualitative results needed to investigate the research topic. Qualitative data was collected using an interview to gather an in depth knowledge of the topic in question. Quantitative data was collected through the distribution of questionnaires to fifty participants from different stores in the midland region which in turn helped build a profile of employee motivation in relation to total rewards. It is important to note that all the research conducted during the course of this dissertation was conducted ethically and under the strictest of confidence. vi The discussion section focuses on the research findings which proved to be quite interesting. Thematic analysis was used and this was relevant to objective one as it identified a number of themes which were derived from the interview process. These themes include importance of rewards, team approach, current total rewards strategy, impact of economic downturn, motivating staff and the future for total rewards. With reference to objective two, the author transferred the questionnaires to a Microsoft excel spreadsheet to be statistically analysed. Having evaluated and compared these findings the incentive that would add the most value to the company is then discussed for objective three. A number of interesting conclusions can be drawn from the research. Both total rewards and motivation are complex concepts. Total rewards may be difficult to understand as motivation within the workplace can be difficult to get right as people are motivated in different ways. The perception of employees differs somewhat substantially from that of management. To conclude the implementation of a specific and consistent total rewards strategy incorporating both financial and non-financial rewards would be in the best interest of the company.