Rewards management and employee performance. A case of Kazo District Local Government, Uganda.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64792/r5gx2t25Keywords:
Rewards Management, Employee Performance, Local Government, Public Sector, Uganda, Kazo DistrictAbstract
Background
This study examined the effect of rewards management on employee performance in Kazo District Local Government, Uganda.
Methods
The study adopted a cross-sectional design with a predominantly quantitative approach, complemented by key informant interviews. A sample of 261 respondents was drawn from a target population of 800 employees using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table, with stratified and simple random sampling applied across health, education, and administrative cadres, yielding 240 valid responses (92.0% response rate). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, a one-tailed Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression in SPSS, while qualitative data from key informant interviews were analysed thematically.
Results
Most of the 240 respondents were female (59.2%), from the Education department (53.3%), and in technical roles (46.7%), with 76.7% having served more than six years and 43.3% holding a degree, indicating a predominantly female, experienced, and fairly well-educated workforce. Employees rated rewards management (M = 3.11, SD = 0.72) and employee performance (M = 3.30, SD = 0.73) as moderate. Rewards management was positively and significantly related to employee performance (r = 0.387, p < 0.01, one-tailed) and explained 15.0% of its variance (R² = 0.150, F(1, 238) = 36.845, p < 0.01). Qualitative findings showed that delayed salaries, inconsistent non-monetary rewards, and perceived unfairness constrained performance.
Conclusion
Rewards management is a significant, though partial, predictor of employee performance in local government; the moderate relationship reflects implementation weaknesses rather than a flaw in reward-based motivation.
Recommendation
There is a need to establish a salary tracking and transparency committee, formalising non-monetary reward policies, piloting a performance-linked allowance scheme, and convening a district-ministry dialogue forum to address systemic barriers to reward administration.
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