Role of Rewards on Staff Commitment in Non-Government Organizations in Uganda

A Case study of International Aid Services

Abstract

In this article, we sought to establish the role of rewards in staff commitment in International Aid Services (IAS) in Uganda. The problem of concern was that whereas IAS had invested a lot of resources in form of financial and non-financial rewards, staff commitment was still questionable as evidenced in late completion of tasks, poor quality of work and poor handling of organizational assets. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (i) to establish the influence of financial rewards on staff commitment in IAS, and; (ii) to examine the effect of non-financial rewards on staff commitment in IAS. The research used a case study research design. Data for the study were collected from three IAS field offices and one national office. Four managers were interviewed and 45 staff completed a questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that both financial and non-financial rewards are significant factors in influencing commitment in IAS. Specifically, 29.7% variations in staff commitment at IAS were explainable by financial rewards while 62.1% variations in staff commitment were explainable by non-financial rewards. And, the remaining percentage was due to other factors outside this article. In view of the findings, the authors concluded that financial and non-financial rewards have a significant bearing on staff commitment at IAS. But, the amount of financial rewards is insufficient and the distribution system of the non-financial rewards is not perceived as unfair across the board. The study recommends that for IAS to enlist commitment, the managers should enhance the financial rewards and improve on the allocation of nonfinancial rewards to ensure equity.