Influence Of Intrinsic Rewards On Employee Performance In Sugar Companies In Western Kenya

ABSTRACT

Intrinsic motivation occurs when people engage in an activity such as a hobby

without external incentives. Social and educational psychologists have studied this

form of motivation since the early 1970’s. Research has found that it is usually

associated with high achievement and enjoyment by employees. Research has

shown that increased workforce motivation contributes to increased productivity and

innovation, creative problem solving, reduced turnover and decreased absenteeism.

However, these past researches have never touched on how quality of work,

punctuality and commitment influence employee performance. This research

therefore seeks to fill this gap. The objectives of the study were to determine the

influence of intrinsic rewards on employee performance, to assess the influence of

organizational factors on the relationship between intrinsic rewards and employee

performance, to determine the influence of organizational factors on employee

performance. It was hypothesized that, intrinsic rewards have no statistical

significant influence on employee performance, organizational factors have no

statistical significant influence on the relationship between intrinsic rewards and

employee performance and organizational factors have no statistical significant

influence on employee performance. The study was conducted in four sugar

companies in the western Kenya. Employees at all levels of management were

sampled. The research adopted the descriptive survey research design. The target

population was 2000 employees of Mumias sugar company, Nzoia Sugar Company,

West Kenya Sugar Company and Butali Sugar Company. Systematic random

sampling was used to get the sample size of 200 employees. Data was collected

using questionnaires, for primary data. Pretesting of the instruments was conducted

to 15 employees of Chemilil Sugar Company. Reliability of data was measured

using cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Data was analyzed using descriptive and

inferential statistics, using SPSS (version 20.0).Results indicated that, there existed a

positive influence between intrinsic rewards and employee performance,

organizational factors positively moderated the relationship between intrinsic

rewards and employee performance and lastly, organizational factors had a

statistically significant positive influence on employee performance. This study

contributed to the advancement of academic knowledge on the utilization of proper

rewarding strategies in enhancing employee performance in sugar companies. The

study will provide empirical evidence on the moderating effects of organization

training and development and working experience on the relationship between

intrinsic rewards and employee performance in sugar companies. It was

recommended that rewards should be given in public so as this will encourage hard

work among employees and enhance equity. Supervisors in sugar manufacturing

firms should closely monitor employees after training to make sure that they are

implementing what they learnt. Deliberate action should be taken by sugar

manufacturing companies to develop strong organizational cultures geared towards

employee performance.