Reward management (RMT) assessment template

Reward management practices – briefing paper

Name:

Word count: 6765

Strategic Analysis
1.1 The context of the reward environment and the key perspectives that
inform reward decisions

It is a common practice for companies and organisations such as Baker’s

Department Store to reward their employees from time to time. The main objective
of rewarding employees is to motivate and encourage them to be committed
towards the set organisation’s objectives (Jones & Perkins, 2020). Rewards often
works as incentives which make workers want to work even harder so that their
efforts can be recognized. They can be in different forms including remuneration,
bonuses, promotion and recognition among others. Whenever an employee
receives a reward, he or she gets psyched up and this is the primary reason why
organisations and companies make sure that they reward their employees
consistently.

Baker’s Department Store has been implementing a reward policy which has been
in place for several of years. The store mainly rewards the employees who have
done exceptionally well in their duties. But this particular policy is prone to both
internal and external risks which can be current while others will affect the store in
the future. Using modern analysis tools, it is possible to identify the factors that can
affect the company’s reward policy either now or in the future.

PESTLE analysis tool discloses the external factors such as:

Competition- Baker’s Department is facing stiff competition from other stores like
the Ted Baker’s Stores which is giving more innovative rewards that lure some
employees from the store. Therefore, this completion informs the reward system of
Baker’s Department Store to invest more on its reward policy by scaling higher
wages to attract and retain the desirable talents and customers.
Economic performance- The economic performance of Baker’s Department
informs its reword system. When making more profits, the department reward
policy is shaped in giving tokens, and more employee empowerment programs.
During low seasons such as high inflations, les profits are realized and the reward
system minimizes the empowerment programs and the number of tokens dashed
out.

Generation change-The change in generation brings change in test and

preferences of employees and customer. This change informs the Reward system
of Baker’s Department to set an evolving system that identify different rewards to
the older employees compared to the younger employees.

Technology-Technological change impacts on the reward system of Baker’s

Department. The store is putting in place a reward policy which goes in hand with
the latest technologies. This includes investing in Information communication
technology and proper reward data management of employees.

FACTOR EFFECT/RISK

Politics  The decisions made by the

government affect businesses
because they usually result to
new regulations. The decision
of the government for
employees to work at home
due to Covid19 has seen
Baker’s department store’s
total sales drop to 0.5% in
February, 2020 and by 1.6%
a by the end of the last
month. The reduction in total
sales growth means that
department stores such as
Baker’s department stores
had to cut budgets on some
operations including reward
policies.
 The decisions made by
governments has also
resulted to restrictions in
labour movements. Since
Baker’s department store rely
largely on migrant workforce,
it becomes harder to employ
local workforce after Brexit
and this requires the reward
policies to be adjusted.
 Employees engaging in
politics leads conflicts due to
different political ideologies
causing dis-unity in reward
management.
 Policies related to rewards
being changed by new
regime.

Economic  Poor performance of the

economy because of factors
such as Covid19 has affected
Baker’s Department store
negatively. The number of
customers has decreased
because of the restrictions in
movements and this has
resulted to the store reducing
the budget on rewards.
 The UK GDP fell by 5.6% in
the month of March because
of the current Covid19
pandemic and this affects
Baker’s Department store
since purchasing power of the
customers has reduced too.
This means the department
store has cancelled the
monthly rewards and cut the
salaries by 25% because of
the reduced revenues.
 More profits has improved the
wages/salaries and lead to
more employee
empowerment programs.
 An improved economy will
require the store to give out
more innovative rewards.
Social  At Baker’s department stores,
employee, from different
backgrounds are able to
interact more easily because
of social media and this
means that even while in work
places, they are able to relate
well consequentl making
implementation of a reward
policy effective and easier.
That has also pave way for
sharing ideas on best reward
management practices.
 Social factors such as culture
require the store to give
rewards that are aligned to
the different cultures\.
 The store needs to make sure
the reward policy does not
discriminate people from
certain social groups.

Technology  Bakers keep on updating its

systems which requires the
reward policies to also be
updated regularly to keep up
with the latest technologies.
 All employees at Bakers have
to check in and checkout
digitally whenever they report
and leave work and this
makes it easier to monitor the
attendance of the employees
consequently helping collect
reward intelligence.
 Modern technology requires
the store to update its reward
system regularly especial in
data management.
 Technology allows
administration of some
rewards digitally.

Legal  The store must have to adopt

to fair and open rewarding
processes.
 The store must adhere to
reward related laws which
include the Equity Act 2010
and the Employment Rights
Act 2016. For instance,
Baker’s Department stores’
employees have the right to
be rewarded. Based on the
Equity Act 2010 and the
Employment Rights Act
2016 , Baker’s Department
stores endures that
employees who have played
the same role are rewarded
with the same rewards
irrespective of age, gender or
race among other special
characteristics. Baker’s
department store is ensuring
this through giving uniform
rewards to employees in the
same levels.

Environment  The reward policy

implemented by the store will
have to be environmental
conscious, to void unwanted
exploitation of natural
resources.
 People living near the store
must not be affected
negatively by the reward
policy.
 Baker’s department stores
ensures that no reward
contravene the environmental
legislations including the
Control of Pollution Act and
the Environment Protection
Act. Baker’s Department
stopped giving cars which are
made before 2012 as rewards
because such cars produce a
lot of harmful gases which
have negative effects on the
environment. This was done
as a way of making sure the
rewards given are compliant
with the environmental laws
put in place.

The SWOT analysis tool discloses Internal factors such as:

Number of employees- The department store has been growing steadily and this
requires a policy that can accommodate the rising number of employees. If the
number of employee is high, there will be reasons to come up with a more
elaborated reward policy that can accommodate all the employees and ensure
satisfaction.

Automation-The store is automating some of its operations which will require even
the reward policy to be adjusted. Modern systems simplify the entire process
especially in checking the records of the employees who should be rewarded.

Strengths Opportunities

 A dedicated management  The store using modern

team technology to implement the
 Resources to implement a reward policy
reward system  Being able to reduce the
 An existing reward schedule turnover rate among
 Ample time to prepare employees
 Coming up with strategies
that can provide the store
with competitive advantage

Weaknesses Threats
 The number of employees is
too high to reward everyone
who deserves
 Using a reward system that  Some employees feeling left

is almost getting outdated out and therefore failing to

cooperate
 Limits to the resources that
can be used
 Not reaching out to all the
employees who deserve to
be rewarded

The reward environment at Baker’s Department Store primarily involves the line
manager and the employees. The manager uses the performance report to
establish the performance of an employee over a period of time (Rose, 2018).

Reward decisions at Baker’s Department Store are informed by factors such as

the period of time that an employee has been working in a particular
organisation (Nwaozor& Thompson, 2020). At Baker’s Department Store
employees spend their entire careers working and need to be recognized in a
special manner. Employees who go out of their ways to accomplish their duties
should also be rewarded by the at Baker’s Department Store.

Another aspect that informs reward decision at the department store is doing
extra ordinary things while at work (White, 2016). These are the employees who
will not hesitate to inform the relevant managers when something is not going
well. They can inform on issues such as theft or a certain form of laxity.

Employees who have shown exceptional leadership qualities are also rewarded
by the companies they work for. These are the workers who will rally and direct
others towards working even harder in their duties. It is important to reward such
employees because they can easily use their leadership qualities to negatively
rally the employees into things such as strikes and revolts (Michael, 2017).

Reward Intelligence
Perkins (2018) defines reward intelligence as the information and data used to
make different reward decisions. This information provides guidelines on the
steps to be taken during reward decision making in organization such as Baker’s
Department Store.

1.2 . The most appropriate way of collecting reward intelligence

Methods of collecting reward intelligence may vary depending on the
organisation and its size. Big organisations such as Baker’s Department Store
need to put in place more elaborated methods which will cover the entire
company. Because of this, it is important to get more insight on reward
intelligence.

Types of reward intelligence

Direct reward intelligence- This is the intelligence that is obtained directly from
the employees as they go on with their duties. The person collecting the
intelligence is able to directly see what the employees are doing in their
workplaces.

Indirect reward intelligence- This is information collected from third parties and
documents related to different employees. The intelligence collector does not
need to see or know the employees being evaluated provided there is data and
information regarding the particular employees.

Ways of gathering and presenting reward intelligence

Feedbacks from employees

Majority of big companies such as Baker’s Department Stores have platforms
where employees can give feedbacks regarding their jobs. The employees are
encouraged to talk about almost anything and this information can be used to
establish the employees who deserve to be rewarded. All the feedbacks are
analyzed and then presented to those responsible of selecting the rewards
recipients.
Performance chats
Details regarding the performance and progress of different employees are
usually carefully recorded. These records include things such as if the
employees were able to achieve their periodic targets. Through these records, it
is easy to identify the employees who have achieved their goals and those who
have been improving.

Personal Records
Each and every employee is required to present his or her resume while
applying for a job at the department store. The company keeps these resumes
and they provide helpful information while deciding the person to be rewarded.
This is especially applicable when dealing with rewards such as promotions
because it easy to tell the qualifications of different employees.

Former employers
Most employees have been employed in a number of organizations and as a
result, former employers have details regarding the employees such the former
responsibilities and roles, and performance track records.

Advantages
 Simple to implement because the information is already compiled
 Can get information from a number of past employers provided the employee has
worked in a number of organizations and access the employee performance track
roads

Disadvantages

 The information can be biased especially if the employee did not leave some
of the past jobs in good faith.
 Former employee may be unwilling to disclose performance track record
about the employee
 Some employees might be judged wrongly
Stock market
The stock market is a good source of information on how the economy is
performing at a particular time. To get information from the stock market, one
needs to work with stoke brokers or visit the official London Stock Market
website. This website is always updated and it also keeps records of the past
transactions. Financial Experts in organizations such as Baker’s Department
Store can help managers translate the figures on the website. The information
obtained here includes inflation rates, taxes and competitions. Furthermore, the
stock market can also show the behaviour of different people when it comes to
financial management. This means that it is possible to tell the people who are
risk takers and those who are more careful with their finances. The more careful
people usually buy stocks that have lower risk and they tend to buy stocks for
long term purposes.

Advantages
 It is open for anyone to see
 It is accurate because it shows factual figures

Disadvantage
 Provides general information which needs to be analyzed before final
decisions can be made.
 The information that can be obtained in this process includes the
relationship of the worker with other employees.

Financial institutions
Employees usually take loans and credit from different financial institutions
including banks. These institutions keep records on the financial transactions of
the employees and they can provide insight on how well the employees manage
their finances. All what is needed is to follow the right channels and abide by the
Date Protection Act which protects personal information from being accessed by
unauthorized people.

Advantages

 The information is accurate and updated

 Possibility to know employees’ sources of income and whether the
employees are corrupt

Disadvantages

 Some information is personal and restricted by the Data Protection Act

 Some details might be misleading if not looked keenly since some
employees might have multiple sources of income

Local administrators
The local administrators usually know details regarding people leaving in
different communities. Such people can provide helpful information that will help
in knowing the conduct of such person out of work. The information includes the
family life and social lives of the people concerned. Soe of these administrators
have known different people since they were small children.

Advantage

 Ability to collect factual information from reliable source

 Chances of knowing the history of the people concerned

Disadvantages

 The community leaders can be biased on some issues

 There are chances that the leaders might not be interested in providing
the information
Social Media
This is another ideal source of intelligence mainly in the current days where
people post personal information about themselves. The information posted is
seen by a lot of people and this information can be very helpful in making
reward decisions.

Advantages
 Easy access of information

 It is simple to know the past of the people

Disadvantages

 Some people are not factual in social media

 It can be seen as privacy invasion of the people

Labour market and pay trends provide information on current and emerging trends relating to
employment earnings, working hours, cost of living etc.
This can help us assess the extent to which labout and skills are available and make
judgements about pay stance depending on sector, location etc.
Sources:
Office for National Statistics
Labour Market Outlook

Inflation – It’s difficult to avoid hearing about inflation in the post credit crunch news these
days but the office for the National Statistics is a reliable and up to date of information about
inflation and other UK economic indicators.

Data from job advertisements- We can search for information about pay and benefits for
particular jobs by trawling printed or online recruitment publications and websites for free.

Published pay surveys- Data is gathered from organisations and can provide an indication of
market rates. It can be difficult to make meaningful comparisons due to limited contextual
information but it can help to provide periodic ‘temperature checks’.

Pay clubs – These are made up of employers who regularly exchange information on pay
levels.

Pay settlements – A pay settlement is a pay level, or a pay raise that is agreed as the result of
bargaining between unions and employers.

Consultants pay databases – Consultants, for example, recruitment agencies and job
evaluation specialists, hold information on pay levels of their clients and can be a useful
source of benchmarking intelligence.

Employment legislation – It’s critical that reward decisions comply with relevant legislation,
including National Minimum Wage, National Living Wage, Equal Pay and so on.

Use of reward intelligence in making reward decisions

The reward intelligence collected is used to determine the employees who
deserve to be rewarded. It provides even personal details about each and every
employee and this helps in coming up with the final list of recipients. Without the
intelligence, it would be practically impossible to know the deserving recipients
especially in situations where there are many employees who have qualified to
be rewarded. Reward intelligence on performance track record help in
determining the most deserving employees for given rewards. Furthermore,
performance trends enables the management to evaluate the past of the
different employees and determine new openings for them.
Total Reward

2.1 Evaluation of the principle of total rewards and its importance to

reward strategy The principle of total rewards requires the employer to use all
the tools at his or her disposal to motivate, attract and retain employees (Jones
& Perkins, 2020).The employees do not necessarily have to do anything special
or exceptional, but they are rewarded just for working in the particular
organisation. This principle is made up of five elements which are; benefits,
compensation, recognition, professional development and work-life balance.

Baker’s Department Store can benefit a lot from a total reward approach
considering the number of people it has employed. The top priorities of the
company’s reward policy include motivating the employees, reducing
employees’ turnover and creating harmony in the workplace. These priorities
perfectly fit into the total reward policy since the policy touches each and every
employee working at the store.

One of the things that the department store can expect after applying total
reward approach is employees working with more harmony. When this particular
approach is applied, the employees feel equal to each other depending on their
rank in the company. This improves relations among the employee consequently
making them enjoy working for the company. With total reward approach, there
will also be improved productivity considering that all the employees will be
motivated. Employees will not even mind working overtime since they will take
the success of the company as their personal success.

Current mess at Baker’s Department Store

At the moment, the reward policy used at Baker’s Department Store has no room
for expansion.
The people who came up with the plan did not consider that the company would
grow in size. Consequently, the current reward policy uses the traditional
practices which are static.

The reward policy at Baker’s does not necessarily recognize the employees who
are referred to as non-essential. This means that even the more hardworking
casual employees are not recognized. With such a policy it is easy for the
employees to revolt against the policies of the company.

A specific example of the mistakes Baker’s Department Store is doing in

financial reward policy includes having a reward policy where employees are
rewarded once in a year. This does not create the necessary motivation among
employees especially considering that some employees only work in the store
for a few months.

When it comes to non-financial rewards, only the top managers in the store are
given housing allowance therefore making the junior employees feel left out.

Baker’s Department Store needs a comprehensive review of its reward policies

and practices and the Board of Directors want to know how the company should
move forward with a more strategic approach to managing pay and reward.

Among the things that the department store is doing wrong is failing to give
equal rewards to people with equal achievements. This is especially when it
comes to non-financial rewards where some employees are rewarded with
bigger rewards. An employee will be promoted to a higher position despite
having achieved the same achievement with the employees who are not
promoted. When it comes to financial rewards, the company has been
concentrating more in giving rewards which are based on the experience of the
employees. But this is wrong because there are younger employees who
achieve more despite not being very experienced. The financial rewards should
not be based on experience since the experienced who are not experienced feel
left out.

How Baker’s Department Store can handle the Current mess

The store needs to ensure its new policy has room for growth in different
aspects. Such a policy will be able to accommodate the changes that might
happen in the future such as increase in the number of employees and
improvement in technology. The store can achieve this through reviewing its
reward policy periodically. It can be reviewing the policy annually to make sure
all the desired changes have been incorporated.

While implementing total reward approach, the department store should consider
the cost. It is not logical for the store to spend more than it can afford in the
implementation of the policy. Timing should also be done properly where the
rewarding should be done when the employees can appreciate the rewards
more. Furthermore, the department store should consider the kind of rewards to
be given to the employees. There are certain rewards that are easier to give out
and they can even be given to teams instead of individuals.

A good example is an organization rewarding some of its employees with

vehicles while the same employees live within walking distance of the company.
This will mean that the employees will only use the cars for personal purses
when not at work.
To correct the mistakes on financial rewards at Baker’s the store should make
their reward policy a continuous thing where rewards are given more regularly.
The store can also correct the nonfinancial mistakes by making sure that all the
employees are given housing allowance especially employees who have worked
in the store for more than two years. These changes reduce turnover rates and
also help the department attract the top talents.

2.3 How policy initiatives and practices can be implemented

Reward policy initiatives and practices at Baker’s Department Store are
implemented carefully to produce the desired results. There are certain
fundamental aspects that require to be followed while doing the implementation.
One of the most important aspects is basing them on the organisation’s goals.
Every reward should be geared towards encouraging the employees to work
harder towards achieving the objectives of the company. It is also important to
involve the employees while implementing the policy initiatives and practices.
These are the recipients of the rewards and as a result, their input is significant.
Rewarding teams is also an important aspect when implementing policy
initiatives and practices. This creates healthy competition where each team
works hard to emerge the best. The following are the steps to that Baker’s
Department Store should consider for effective implementation of policy
initiatives and practices (Perkins, 2018):

Step 1-Baker’s Department Store shouldcome up with a rationale to introduce the

policy.
Step 2-Establish the Critical Success Factors (CSF) of the organisation.
Step 3-Review the already existing reward policy.
Step 4-Encourage stakeholders especially employees to give their inputs.
Step 5-Come up with clear goals for the rewards.
Step 6-Review the external factors such as government policies.
Step 7-Check whether the rewards will fit into the organisation by considering
issues such as the organisation’s culture.

Step 8-Get approval from the relevant authorities for the awarding to take place.
Step 9- implement the policy formulated and make sure all the stakeholders know
about the new policy.

Equity and Fairness of Reward Policies and Practices

2.2 The significance of equity, fairness, transparency and consistency as
they affect reward policies and practices

Significance of equity
Equity is an integral part of any reward policy as stipulated by Perkins, (2018) in
his work. This involves ensuring that employees with similar achievements get the
same rewards for their efforts. It is not right to reward some employees with
bigger rewards than others when their achievements were the same. If the
available rewards are not enough, it is better to wait until there are enough
rewards so that each and every recipient can feel appreciated. Sometimes it
might even be necessary to reduce the number of recipients so that everyone can
receive a reward equal to his or her achievements.

Significance of fairness
Fairness is also an important virtue when giving out rewards to employees for
what they have achieved. A process that is not fair will leave some employees
unhappy and this can have negative effects both to the employees and the
organisation. A company such as Baker’s department store which has different
department should make sure that rewards to different departments are optimally
fair depending on what the employees have achieved (Nwaozor& Thompson,
2020)

Significance of transparency
Being transparent entails letting all the stakeholders know how the recipients
were selected. Through being transparent, everyone is satisfied that the people
selected rightfully deserved to be rewarded. The simplest way of being
transparent is involving the employees in selecting the people to get the
rewards. But since it might be possible to involve everyone especially in big
organisations such as Baker’s Department Store, the representatives of the
employees can participate in the exercise.

Significance of consistency
Consistency is rewarding the employees at certain stipulated times without
failure. There should be a set timeline on when the rewards are to be given out.
Most companies prefer to give awards annually, but this can change depending
on the policy of the particular company as White, (2016) has explained. Being
consistent ensures that everyone involved is adequately prepared and ready. It
also gives the employees something to look forward to especially if they have
been working extra hard.

To see that good practice is followed, it is advisable to automate a significant

portion of the rewarding process. It might not be possible to automate the entire
process since there are things which can only be done manually. But the
department store can automate aspects such as selection and announcement of
the recipients. With proper automation, all the stakeholders including the
employees will be able to monitor the process even remotely using portable
devices such as smart phones.

It is important to note that equity, fairness, consistence and transparency are

some of the most important components of any reward policy. This has been
confirmed by the psychological contract which was developed by Denise
Rousseau and denotes that in work place there needs to be both perceptions
and mutual obligations between an employee and an employer. In this kind of
obligation, there are no written documents. Instead, both the employers and
employees feel indebt where they have to perform certain duties without being
compelled. Baker’s Department Store it is paying all its employees on time
without failure. On the other hand, the employees are performing their duties
diligently without needing to be supervised all the times. The psychology
contract is relevant in any workplace because it helps employees and their
employers relate well and also enhances communication between the two
parties. A good example of a psychological contract is Google understanding
that after the current pandemic employees will want to go back to their jobs and
therefore provide them with assurances that their jobs are secure.

The Adam’s Equity theory further confirms this by stating that; ‘employees
maintain a fair relationship between the performance and rewards in comparison
with others’. The theory further explains that renumeration alone is not enough
where the employees also wants to be motivated so that the fairness in work
places can be maintained. This requires the employers to take a close look of
how employees have been performing while making reward decisions. The
performance of all employees should be examined depending on their efforts to
determine the employees who deserve the rewards more. This is because there
are employees who se duties are hard to quantify and such employees might be
overlooked. Baker’s Department Store is enhancing the Adam’s Equity theory by
ensuring that the reward policy is transparent. All the employees can know the
rewards given to their colleagues and therefore all the employees feel
appreciated depending on their efforts. The relevance of this theory is that it lets
employee understand that they are rewarded according to their performance and
as a result, they are encouraged to work even harder.

The psychological contract and the Adam’s Equity Acts are the primary things
that keep employers from moving skipping the planned reward programs in the
organisations. Since these legislations are not in writing, they are easier to break
for the part of the employer. But the Act gives power to employee to revolt
against any changes that are made against these laws. A good example is using
holistic reward system on Baker’s done annually based on laws and regulations
on contracts.

A good example of a company that suffered from not following the rules is BBC
which was compelled to adjust its payment structure after it was established that
female employees were being paid less than their male colleagues. Such
companies contravenes the Equity Act 2010 which explains that; ‘employees
doing the same job should be paid equally irrespective of gender’

The Equity Act 2010 further allows female employees to work in male dominated
roles such as operating heavy machines provided they are qualified. This is
complimented by the gender pay gap which shows that women have been
receiving lesser remuneration than men despite performing the same duties.
This Act also ensures that all the employees with special qualities such as
different races, disability or different religious believes are not discriminated. The
act was developed specifically to look at the rights of the people who might be
considered to certain weakness or different characters from discrimination.

Any organization needs to show it is operating fairly and transparently by being

open to scrutiny. This demonstrates that such a company has nothing to hide.
To ensure fairness while paying employees Baker’s department could embrace
paying the employees in groups to ensure all employees in the same groups
receive equal pay.

Baker’s department can also ensure fairness through mechanism such as

having competent and professional managers. This is because such managers
have a higher understanding of equity. It is also paramount for organizations to
make sure that their rewarding systems are transparent. This lets all they
stakeholder feel that they are part of the process.

Employees doing different duties should also be examined different for an

organization to ensure it is being fair in its reward system. A good example is a
technician at Baker’s store who might not seem to be doing much since his
results are not easy to quantify. Such a technician plays an important role of
making sure all the systems in different organizations are running smoothly.
During rewarding decisions, a manager who has completed a certain project
might be seen to have done much more compared to the technician. This is why
it is important to examine different duties in different ways so that even the
people doing jobs which are not easy to notice can be recognized. This is
protected by Employment Rights Act 1996 which allows performance on different
duties to be measured according to the effort applied.

Baker’s department can ensure the reward system operates fairly and
transparently by taking closer look at the performance of each employee. This
will directly result to all employees receiving equal pay depending on their roles.
I can also ensure fairness through letting the employees work indecently. This
allows the manager to identify the employees who are competent than others.
The organization should ensure it is treating all employees fairly because not
doing so will be going against the laid legislations such as the Equity Act 2010.
Not treating employees fairly would also demoralize the employees and this will
significantly reduce productivity. Some of the mechanisms that can be put in
place to ensure equity include rewarding the employees in the organization.
Different departments should not hold different reward processes. Furthermore,
the organization can go a ahead and abolish the rewards from being kept
secretive. There should be an open policy where every stakeholder can see and
understand the rewards being given.

Line Managers and Their Contribution to Reward

3.1 The various ways in which line managers contribute to reward decision
making Line managers play important roles in both financial and non-financial
decisions. In financial decisions they are the ones responsible of giving pay
raises and bonuses. Sometimes they may give huge raises to some employees
and not to others without giving explanations. This can happen if the managers
have personal relationships with certain ways such as being romantically
involved, having attended the same school or having worked together in a
previous organization among others. In non-financial issues they are involved in
matters such as selecting recipients of different rewards and giving out the
rewards.

Managers are not always fair and some do it even without realizing. This means
that there are some managers who make decisions thinking that they are fair but
the decisions end up being unfair to other employees. Furthermore, managers
are not always fair especially when it comes to dealing with undisciplined
employees. There are some managers who are more lenient towards some
employees compared to others. Managers also fail to be fair when making
decisions regarding recruitment and selection. There have been cases of
managers deciding to hire certain people just because they are from certain
places.

Line managers at Baker’s Department Store are the ones directly involved with
issues related to the welfare of the employees including providing suitable
working environment (Rose, 2018). As a result, they are the ones responsible of
selecting the employees who are to be rewarded. This responsibility involves
applying the various outlined methods to identify the employees who deserve
rewards. The line managers usually receive lists of the employees who are
eligible to be rewarded. From the lists they select the specific employees who
are more qualified for the rewards.

Another important role of the line manager in reward decision making is

identifying the appropriate rewards for different achievements (Nwaozor&
Thompson, 2020). The rewards given need to be suitable both to the
organisation and to the recipients. There are rewards which might not produce
the desired results even if they seem appropriate. Sometimes it can be
challenging to come up with the rewards that will be appropriate since different
employees have different needs. A good example is an employee who is given a
salary rise but not a promotion despite being qualified for a higher role. Such an
employee will accept the salary rise but will not be satisfied because he or she
wanted to be given a bigger role.

Line managers also have the duty of balancing the rewards given to the different
employees. It is not wise to give big rewards to some employees and then give
very small rewards to others. The ones who receive the small rewards will feel
as if they were not fully appreciated. Line managers need to make sure that the
rewards are proportional to what every employee has achieved.

HR can support managers to reduce the various risks identified by ensuring that
the employees are competent and properly qualified. This will ensure that the
various duties in the department stores are executed with high levels of
professionalism. HR can also support the line manager to reduce the various
risks identified through providing all the required resources on time. With this, it
will be easier to plan and prepare for the award process to be implemented.

A specific example of HR supporting line managers is when HR hires IT

specialists who have specific skills for making sure the reward process is
automated. Another example is HR providing information about every employee
to the line managers so that the reward decisions can be more accurate. This is
helpful because HR department is the one responsible of maintain employees’
records.

Another specific example of HR supporting line managers make decision is the

HR managers choosing to post some employees to help the line manager to
make decisions. The HR can also provide the line manager with support through
giving the manager insight on how to use different technologically oriented
systems. These include the computers and communication devices which are
required for the reward policy. Google for example has an intrinsic team
management system which is supported by the HR and ensures that line
managers are able to achieve their objectives in decision making.
The Purcell’s AMO model clearly explains how line managers can motivate
employees through HR policies which are related to Ability, Motivation and
Opportunity (AMO). This model encourages managers to concentrate on the
abilities of the employees. These abilities should be enhanced through the
employees being motivated. The managers should also provide the employees
with opportunities to advance their abilities. When the managers concentrate
with these three aspects, the organization and the employees benefit from
improved productivity. Line managers can use it in reward decisions by
implementing it in the determinations of w what can motivate each and every
employee and identification of the employees who might need special help
based on their abilities and the nature of available motivation opportunities.
According to the report by Robinson and Hayday (October, 2009, report 470) for
the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), the key drivers of engagement are
staff perception, performance, service, productivity, health and safety. The line
managers are responsible of making sure all the components outlined are
available including treating the employees fairly. These key drivers are ensuring
affect reward decisions as they help to focus on individualistic needs and
preferences of each employee. This affects the rearward decision by making
sure that only the deserving recipients receive the rewards.

A good example of contributions of line manager is John Lewis which is a high-

end Department store. The specific details of this reward policy is that all staff
get 15% discount at Waitrose and 25 % discount on most of the items available
at John Lewis. When it comes to non-financial rewards, the organization gives its
employees 22 days plus bank holidays after every three months and employees
who have worked in the store for more than ten years get 30 days plus bank
holidays. In the recent times, John Lewis has given its employees a 3% discount
after the bonus was announced. This is in line with the company’s reward policy
which involves always putting the employees first. The managers try to know
their subordinates as much as possible with an objective of knowing the best
ways to reward them. These managers have put up measures such as having
combined social events with their employees with an objective of being close to
them as possible. The line managers at this store are the ones that make most
of the decisions such as giving promotions and they get support from the HR
department. When the line managers at John Lewis decide that a certain
employee shall receive an award, there is almost zero resistance. The managers
are also the ones who inform the reward recipients about their awards. They
determine the reward scale, and manage the reward system by fostering
fairness.
Organisational Performance and the Link to Reward
3.2 The contribution of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to improving
employee contribution and sustainable organisation performance

Both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are fundamental to the achievement of

organisation’s objectives. This makes it important the contribution of each type of
rewards.

Contribution of intrinsic rewards

Intrinsic rewards include things such as professional growth, personal
achievement, accomplishment and a sense of pleasure (White, 2016). These
kind of reward systems help retain employees especially the ones with special
sets of skills which can help the organisation significantly. They achieve this
through making the employees happy and satisfied when working at any
particular organisation. When the employees are happy, there is a very little
likelihood that they might look for work somewhere else. The employees will be
looking forward to coming to work because they love what they do and this will
ensure that the organisation will have a strong workforce. A perfect example is
Baker’s Department Store ensuring that all employees enjoy periodic leaves
without failure.

Contribution of extrinsic rewards

Extrinsic rewards are the tangible rewards such as money, house or a car
(Michael, 2017). These are mainly given to individual employees because of
their performances. The rewards help the employees who receive them grow
personally and feel appreciated. A person who receives this kind of reward will
most likely use the reward to better his or her life. The person can move to a
better neighbourhood or do something that will improve his or her status. Such
an employee will be happier and this will directly benefit the company because
the productivity of the employee will be higher. An example of good practice in
extrinsic rewards is the department store providing housing to some of its
employees who are eligible.

Another good example that can show the importance of extrinsic rewards is
Google which has been rewarding its employee with different things including free
food and decompression capsules. The company has been combining this with
intrinsic rewards such as free classes and access to therapists among others.
Google also offers peer bonuses where employees can nominate their colleagues
to receive different rewards. All these rewards have made Google become one of
the most satisfying and rewarding places to work. As expressed by ‘Engaging for
Success’ report, the company has been using the four key enablers of employee
engagement which are; strategic narrative, engaging managers, employee voice
and integrity. This combination has allowed both the employees and the
organization benefit from the different kinds of rewards.

The concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are best captured by the
MacLeod and Clarke’s report (Wójcik-Karpacz, 2018). This report mainly
concentrated on four aspects which are strategic narrative, engaging managers,
employee voice and integrity. These four aspects are meant to enhance
employee engagement where intrinsic rewards can be given to employees with
an objective of letting them feel nearer to their managers and their feel more feel
free to communicate. On the other hand, the extrinsic rewards are given to
employee by managers so that employees can have chances to grow in their
careers and therefore feel more confident about their opinions.

Employees’ engagement as stipulated by the MacLeod and Clarke’s report

applies both to extrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are affected by
the recommendations of this report because employees can be influenced to
expand their scope through the extrinsic rewards. The report requires the
managers to interact with their employees more and this provides a chance for
managers to influence the rewards that the employees should expect. Through
applying the principle on this report it is possible to influence employees so that
they can accept lower level rewards which are ideal especially in the current
times when most companies are not doing well because of the COVID-19
pandemic.

Employees’ engagement is also influential in intrinsic rewards because it can

change the parameters of the rewards depending on how the organization is
performing. Mangers can use the principles on this report to let employees
understand that the company is changing some of its reward policy because of
factors such as the current economic performance. Employees who were
expecting rewards such as promotions will not have problem waiting until the
performance is better if the principles are applied properly.

Recommendations
Baker’s Department Store should seriously consider using the total reward policy
more often. The approach should be combined with other basic approaches so
as to produce the desired results. It is also advisable for the department store to
further automate its rewarding process. Even though some of the aspects are
already automated, it is helpful to utilize the very latest technology since it is
more efficient. Furthermore, the department store should involve the employees
more in the reward process so that everyone can always be on the same page.
References

‘Engaging for Success’ report. https://engageforsuccess.org/the-four-enablers

Jones, S. E., & Perkins, S. J. (2020). Reward Management: Alternatives
Contexts and Consequences 4th edition.

Michael, M. (2017). The Effect Reward Management Practices On Employee

Engagement A Case Study On Varnero Construction (Doctoral
dissertation, Addis Ababa University).

Nwaozor, H. O., & Thompson, C. C. (2020). PRINCIPALS’REWARD

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AS A CORRELATE TO STAFF
PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY

SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE. Unizik Journal OfEducational

Management And Policy,
3(1).
Perkins, S. J. (2018). Processing developments in employee performance and
reward. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and
Performance.

Rose, M. (2018). Management: Alternatives, Consequences and Contexts,

London: CIPD.
Rose, M. (2018) Reward Management: A Practical Introduction, 2nd edn, London:
Kogan Page.
Human Resource Management, 162.
White, G. (2016). Reward management. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Wójcik-Karpacz, A. (2018). The research on work engagement:
theoretical aspects and the results of researches in the
company operating in the IT sector.
Management, 22(2), 60-79.

Bibliographies
Blackman, A., & Hay, R. (2016). What makes a coach effective?.

Jiang, X. (2019). Study of gender and power in slash fan fiction: A case study
of BBC Sherlock slash fan fiction (Master's thesis).

Sammour, A. A., Chen, W., & Balmer, J. M. (2020). Corporate heritage brand
traits and corporate heritage brand identity: the case study of John
Lewis. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal.

Tran, S. K. (2017). GOOGLE: a reflection of culture, leader, and management.

International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 2(1) , 10.
Van Rhee, H., &Dul, J. (2018, July). Filling the black-box of HR: Unraveling the
AMO model and elevating it to the organizational level. In Academy of
Management
Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p. 13840). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510:
Academy of Management.
Yean, T. F. (2016). Organizational justice: A conceptual discussion.
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 219, 798-803.