Financial Rewards, Organizational Justice, and Employee Disengagement: The Roles of Favoritism and Political Interference in a South African Municipality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22441/jimb.v12i2.40324Keywords:
Employee Engagement, Financial Rewards, Individualism-Collectivism, Perceived Justice, Public SectorAbstract
Cultural studies lack research on how valuing the individual versus the group affects employees' investment in their work. This research examines how financial rewards affect employee engagement in a government organisation and how the culture's individualistic or collectivistic nature alters that effect. The researcher used standard, face-to-face interviews in which people were free to answer at length. To address the research questions, the interview guide included 20 open-ended questions covering five main areas of thought. The researcher analysed the interview data using a ‘constant comparison’ method and examined the meaning within the responses. The researcher then sorted the data by how the themes were similar and how they differed. The municipality does offer financial bonuses to its staff. However, because of politics, unfairness, a lack of justice, and favouritism, employees feel they are not being paid fairly, which makes them unhappy and distances them from the organisation and their roles. The municipality is neither individualistic nor group-focused. When the balance between valuing the individual and valuing the group is lacking, financial rewards are less effective at increasing employee engagement. This study shows how an organisation operates, and the balance between valuing the individual and the group determines the extent to which financial rewards affect employee engagement.
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