Abstract
Staff incentive schemes have become increasingly popular in influencing staff to perform more efficiently in the interests of the organisations for which they work. Research has proven that recognition and incentive programmes are indeed a powerful and effective tool for enhancing company performance and profits, contributing to the fact that companies that implement such incentive schemes perform significantly better than their peers who do not have such schemes.
Staff incentive schemes however tend to fall short when it comes to driving the right behaviour amongst the staff for whom it is meant for. Gaining a competitive edge in the banking sector is very challenging, given that the South African banking industry is a highly competitive industry and many of the major banks offer similar services and products, making it difficult to distinguish themselves from the competition. Offering exceptional customer service to clients has increasingly become the only way in which banks can differentiate and distinguish themselves from their competitors. The incentive scheme at Absa was implemented in order to drive exceptional customer service. Excellent customer service should benefit the business as a whole with improvements in key measures such as profit and customer acquisition. However, there are various factors such as administrative flaws, industry conditions, as well as the composition of the incentive scheme itself, which may render the scheme ineffective if these are not carefully considered.
A mixed-method approach was taken in conducting the research, including quantitative inputs from Absa’s data repository, and qualitative inputs from the research questionnaire. The research found that branch staff opined very strongly about the need to influence the design of the incentive; entry criteria should be more achievable, staff PD ratings not being used as a qualifying criterion, and that management should ensure that the communication around the incentive scheme is always consistent across the entire branch network. The research concludes with recommendations of considerations to be made for future incentive schemes to be implemented.
M.Com. (Business Management)