Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-87). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-210). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-129) Also available in print.

The purpose of this study was to audit employee perceptions of the Sentara Health System performance appraisal system in a merit pay setting. To accomplish this, the study investigated variables having a positive relationship on employee perception of performance appraisal acceptability, fairness and accuracy. The study had three objectives: (1) integrate the current body of literature to develop variables that adequately describe employee perception of appraisal systems, (2) integrate these variables into several hypotheses that are consistent with current literature, and (3) test the hypotheses using Pearson product moment correlations. Nine variables hypothesized as depicting aspects of employee perceptions were conceptualized, and multiple indicators were developed for each variable. A questionnaire containing these items was randomly distributed to 300 employees throughout a large health care system. Results indicate that performance appraisal acceptability, fairness and accuracy had a positive relationship with supervisor trust, supervisor knowledge of performance, interview information, interview atmosphere, performance standard acceptability, participation in development, performance reward link and merit pay acceptability. All the hypotheses had significant positive correlations (≤.01). These findings were discussed in terms of the study limitations, suggested future research and implications for the organization studied, as well as other organizations with merit pay programs. / Master of Science

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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a rural southeast school district regarding the impact of strategic compensation as a motivating factor on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. As a result of increased demands on K12 education and the limited pool of teaching candidates, public school districts continue to search for ways to motivate, recruit and retain teachers (Muranto and Shuls, 2012). Since many view the traditional teacher salary scale as an outdated and ineffective practice, school districts continue to search for new ways to provide additional financial bonuses. (Springer, 2009). At the time of the study, the rural southeast school district studied was the only district within its state that used a strategic compensation model as a part of its employee benefits package. The locally funded plan awarded bonuses to teachers who qualify according to the parameters set by their school board. The initial rationale behind the implementation of the plan was to acknowledge exemplary teachers within the district. In this study, the history of the traditional salary scale, teacher quality, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, proponents and opponents of strategic compensation and recent studies on merit pay were examined. In this mixed methods study, a survey was sent to all 237 candidates eligible for strategic compensation, and a focus group interview with 7 administrators responsible for the summative evaluations of teachers was conducted. After the data were collected, descriptive statistics were examined to determine if additional ANOVA analyses were required to determine if demographic differences could be identified. The findings from this study may assist school districts develop and maintain a strategic compensation plan as a part of its overall teacher compensation package. After the data were disaggregated and analyzed, the findings from this study indicated mixed reviews regarding teacher perceptions of strategic compensation. Survey results indicate that the ideal bonus lies between $1,000-$3,000. In addition, teachers and administrators did not perceive that strategic compensation assisted with teacher recruitment or retention. Additional findings indicated differences in perceptions of strategic compensation based on gender and level of teaching assignment. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a rural southeast school district regarding the impact of a pay for performance plan as a motivating factor on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. As a result of the teacher shortage in America, public school districts continue to search for ways to motivate, recruit and retain teachers. Since many view the salaries of teachers low, school districts continue to search for new ways to provide additional end of year bonuses as a motivating factor to improve teacher quality, recruitment and retention. To date, the rural southeast school district studied is the only district within its state that uses a strategic compensation model as a part of its employee benefits package. The plan awards bonuses to teachers who qualify according to their end of year rating. In this study, the history of the traditional salary scale, teacher quality, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, proponents and opponents of strategic compensation and recent studies on merit pay will be examined. A survey was sent to all 237 candidates eligible for strategic compensation, and a focus group interview with 8 administrators responsible for the summative evaluations of teachers was conducted. After the data were collected, they were sorted by demographic identifiers to determine if there were differences in responses between different groups. The findings from this study may assist school districts develop and maintain a strategic compensation plan as a part of its overall teacher compensation plan. The findings from this study include: $1,000-$3,000 is the ideal amount of money that would motivate a teacher to improve, strategic compensation did not assist with teacher recruitment, and school administrators did not believe strategic compensation led to greater teacher retention within the rural southeast school district. In addition, teachers and administrators believed that participation in the strategic compensation plan should be voluntary. Findings based on demographic identifiers indicated that male teachers responded more positively than female teachers, and there were differences among elementary, middle school and high school teacher responses with regard to their perceptions of the strategic compensation plan.

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Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A commitment to the market economy was easily extended to a widespread belief that money is the best motivator for work performance although there is no hard evidence to support that belief as a universal proposition (Armstrong & Murlis, 1994:263). Armstrong & Murlis (1994:263) contend that even if the effectiveness of money as a motivator can be questioned, most organisations strongly feel that it is fair to reward employees according to their contribution. The drive against incremental pay systems has taken place because management do not see why people should be paid for simply being there. Many people explicitly associate incremental pay systems with unmotivated performance. The argument being that if people are paid more flexibly according to their performance, they are more likely to be motivated than if they are sitting around waiting for the next automatic salary increment. Performance-related pay (PRP) schemes became more popular in many organisations in the 1980s as an answer to motivating employees and developing performance-oriented cultures. According to Flannery, Hofrichter & Platter (1996:83), organisations have been slowly coming to the realisation that compensation programmes have in many cases become a barrier to the growth and success of the organisations. Consequently, many employers devised new compensation systems that would likely support their emphasis on values such as quality, customer service, teamwork and productivity. Research shows that PRP systems can work for the organisation, but the first wave of enthusiasm revealed some weaknesses in their application. In this study project, the origins and underlying forces around PRP are discussed. The nature of PRP in the Lesotho Civil Service is addressed. PRP as part of the performance management system (PMS) in the Lesotho Public Service is introduced as a substitute for the current 'automatic' incremental pay system. Lastly, a model for introducing PRP in the Lesotho Civil Service is designed as a step-by-step guide for the people who are working on the PRP scheme. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Verbintenis tot die markekonomie het maklik aanleiding gegee tot 'n wydverspreide geloof dat geld die beste motiveerder is vir werkprestasie, hoewel daar geen vasstaande bewys is vir ondersteuning van die geloof as 'n universele proposisie nie (Armstrong & Murlis, 1994:263). Armstrong & Murlis (1994:263) beweer dat selfs al kan die effektiwiteit van geld as 'n motiveerder bevraagteken word, die meeste organisasies sterk voel oor die regverdigheid daarvan dat personeel volgens bydrae vergoed word. Die beweegrede vir afsien van die inkrementele vergoedingstelsel is te vinde in die bestuur se siening dat personeel nie noodwendig vir blote teenwoordigheid vergoed hoef te word nie. Baie mense assosieer die inkrementele vergoedingstelsel direk met ongemotiveerde werkverrigting en die argument word dan ook gehuldig dat as personeel met groter buigsaamheid volgens prestasie vergoed word, hulle waarskynlik meer gemotiveerd sal wees as wanneer hulle maar net wag vir die volgende outomatiese salarisverhoging. Prestasie-verwante vergoedingstelsels is gedurende die 1980's toenemend deur organisasies ingevoer as 'n meganisme vir die motivering van personeel en die vestiging van prestasie-georiënteerde kulture. Volgens Flannery, Hofrichter & Platter (1996:83), het organisasies stadigaan begin besef dat vergoedingsprogramme in baie gevalle belemmerend was vir hul groei en sukses. Gevolglik het baie werkgewers nuwe vergoedingstelsels ontwerp met waarskynlike steun vir hul beklemtoning van waardes soos kwaliteit, kliëntediens, spanwerk en produktiwiteit. Navorsing het getoon dat prestasie-verwante vergoedingstelsels gewenste resultate in 'n organisasie kan lewer, maar die aanvanklike geesdrif is gedemp deur swakhede wat in die toepassing daarvan na vore gekom het. In hierdie studie word die oorsprong van en onderliggende stukrag agter prestasieverwante vergoeding bespreek. Die aard van prestasie-verwante vergoeding in die Lesotho Staatsdiens word aangespreek asook hoe dit as deel van die prestasiebestuurstelsel in die Staatsdiens ingevoer kan word as plaasvervanger vir die bestaande outomatiese inkrementele vergoedingstelsel. Ten slotte word daar 'n modelontwerp vir die instelling van prestasie-verwante vergoeding in die Lesotho Staatsdiens as 'n stap-vir-stap gids vir diegene gemoeid daarmee.

The work performance of employees remains a vital factor both in an organization's viability as well as in the prosperity of its employees. Merit pay can influence employee performance and is one of the most frequently used monetary reward incentives for motivating employees to achieve a higher level of performance. The problem is the limited knowledge on how state employees in a southern state perceive merit pay and how those perceptions may influence employee work performance. Using a conceptual framework built from elements of various motivational theories including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's 2 factor theory, the purpose of this case study was to understand how fifteen employees at a state department in the southern part of the United States perceived how merit pay influenced their work performance. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and transcribed, coded, and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure using NVivo10. A key theme emerging from this study suggesting that participants were not motivated to perform based on merit pay; rather, performance was viewed to be the result of personal determination. This determination sets the stage for state agency leadership to initiate action toward enhancing and implementing a formal recognition program to motivate and engage employees. Findings of the study revealed that the 15 workers were motivated by their current individual personal need level, as Maslow delineated in his hierarchy of needs theory. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to policymakers and state department leaders to consider nonmonetary rewards for employee recognition as a motivational tool in order to improve or maintain work performance.