Motivation Through Reward Systems. A study of reward systems in Transcom AB

Abstract

All organizations have goals and visions. To reach them, they have to get their employees to work towards the same goals and visions. As individuals, employees have different driv-ers and motivations, and it can be very difficult to know how to get the employees to per-form at their best on the basis of the organization's objectives. This paper focuses on how the company Transcom, a leader in Customer Relationship Management, use reward systems to motivate its employees to reach the organization’s goals. We look at the need for a reward system in a company whose main assets are its em-ployees, but at the same time struggles to find cost-effective solutions that will keep their customers satisfied. The market Transcom is working in is defined by short periods of em-ployment and major problems to retain employees over the long term. Transcom's goal is to use a reward system that improves employee productivity, efficiency while maintaining a high quality of their work. With Transcom goals in mind the purpose of this paper became to see if and how a reward system can be used to motivate Transcom employees. Should this system be adapted on an individual basis and take into consideration individual employee characteristics and prefer-ences? Given the central role a reward system can have in motivating employees, we were also interested in highlighting the potential negative effects of a reward system. With Transcom’s long struggled to retain employees in mind, we also want to find out if their reward system may have an effect on how they attract new employees, retain employees and increase performance in their daily work. To reach the purpose of the thesis we look into the current theories discussed in the litera-ture and the field of motivational theory. We have chosen a qualitative research approach and have performed a number of interviews, both with employees regarding their motiva-tion and the views on the reward system as well as with a union representative and the HR department. In our study it became obvious that Transcom did not have a clear strategy how to reach their goals when building the reward system. Transcom failed in building a communication with their employees regarding motivation and they were not aware of what effect the sys-tem had, neither positive nor negative. The result amongst the employees not reaching the goals became a negative attitude towards the reward system and a struggle to find other motivations to work hard and perform well. We propose that Transcom should have a clear strategy when building the reward system so that all employees are taken into account. And when revising the system Transcom should open up a better dialogue with their employees regarding sources to motivation. Transcom should also separate quality and quantity in the reward system so that they re-ward performance in a wider area.