Abstract
Purpose: The world of work is evolving and the nature of relationships between knowledge workers and their employers has changed distinctly, leading to a change in the type of rewards they prefer. The nature of these preferences in the South African, industry-specific context is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to deepen understanding of the reward preferences of Information technology (IT) knowledge workers in South Africa, specifically as these relate to the attraction, retention and motivation of knowledge workers.Design: The research design included a quantitative, empirical and descriptive study of reward preferences, measured with a self-administered survey and analysed using non-parametric tests for variance between dependent and independent groups and non-parametric analysis of variance.Findings: This study found that there are specific reward preferences in knowledge workers in the IT sector in South Africa and that these preferences apply differently when related to the attraction, retention and motivation of employees. It identified the most important reward components in the competition for knowledge workers and also demonstrated that demographic characteristics play a statistically significant role in determining reward preferences.Practical implications: The study’s findings show that a holistic approach to total rewards is required, failing which, companies will find themselves facing increased turnover and jobhopping. Importantly, the study also highlights that different rewards need to form part of knowledge workers’ relationship with their employer in three different scenarios: attraction, retention and motivation.
Highlights
Introduction and literature reviewThis study investigated the reward preferences of knowledge workers in the Information technology (IT) industry in South Africa and explored the relationship between these reward preferences and attraction, motivation and retention
Development opportunities refer to initiatives put in place to upgrade or enhance an employee’s skills, whilst career opportunities refer to all factors that contribute to a clear career path and career planning being in place (Hlalethoa 2010; WorldatWork 2008)
Whilst differences in defining and categorising reward components are noted across several studies (Moore & Bussin 2012; Nienaber, Bussin & Henn 2011; Schlechter, Hung & Bussin 2014; Snelgar, Renard & Venter 2013), dividing reward components into categories seems to be done based on logical classification, rather than based on the fact that employees seem to show a preference for all the components of a category
Summary
This study investigated the reward preferences of knowledge workers in the IT industry in South Africa and explored the relationship between these reward preferences and attraction, motivation and retention. It has been suggested that by 2020, there may be as much as a 13% shortage of highly skilled and university-educated workers worldwide (Dewhurst, Hancock & Ellsworth 2013). This shortage of skills is evident in the South African context and is compounded by decreasing standards of education and increased mobility of knowledge workers leading to immigration (Wöcke & Heymann 2012)
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