Research Study: How American Workers See the Rewards of Work

• Published in: Compensation and benefits review 1998-01, Vol.30 (1), p.24-28
• Main Authors: Le Blanc, Peter V., Mulvey, Paul W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0886-3687; 1552-3837
• DOI: 10.1177/088636879803000104

American employees don't expect cradle to grave jobs anymore, but they do expect to be rewarded fairly during their tenure. Although almost half (49%) of U.S. workers are satisfied with their current base pay and most remain loyal to their employers, U.S. workers in the main are deeply frustrated with how their performance is evaluated and rewarded. This is one of the key findings of Sibson & Company's recent survey on the "Rewards of Work." U.S. workers responding to the survey expressed a marked preference for rewards that focus on the individual rather than team or unit performance. In other words, people want to be rewarded for what they personally have contributed. Moreover, employees also are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with how promotions and raises are determined in their organizations. But the silver lining for employers is that fixing problems with how employees are rewarded is far less expensive than fixing the actual amount of rewards employees receive.