Abstract
Employees in various vital South African industries (e.g., mining, transport, higher education,
and health care) have expressed dissatisfaction over working conditions and salary-related
matters in recent years. It is reasonable to assume that the way in which employees are
rewarded for the contributions has an impact on how they perform their work.
This study focused on the rewards that organisations or employers provide to their employees,
as well as the impact that these rewards, whether financial or non-financial, have on the way
in which employees decide to contribute to the organisation. Employees not receiving the
rewards or benefits that they deem acceptable may result in their operating in a dysfunctional
manner. It is also important to be cognisant of the fact that people of different generations
might prefer different rewards.
The study utilised a quantitative research approach. A non-probability convenience sampling
method was utilised. The sample consisted of 264 people working in different industries in
South Africa. A combination of the Reward Preference Questionnaire and Organisational
Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) Scale was used. Data were processed and analysed with the aid
of SPSS version 27.
A factor analysis was run in order to reduce the number of questionnaire items in the
questionnaire. Thereafter, the reliability of the factors was determined; all factors were reliable,
and internal consistency was good for all factors, as a Cronbach’s alpha above .6 was achieved.
A linear regression was used to analyse the data, and the results indicated a small positive
relationship between rewards and OCB, particularly OCB towards other individuals (OCBI).
The strengths, limitations, and recommendations are provided in order to equip future
researchers with the necessary information to prepare them for and enhance future studies.