Investigate the relationship between production bonuses and productivity of employees in different wage categories

Abstract

Platinum mines in South Africa are still very labour-intensive due to conventional mining methods being used. Having employees working in tough environments might cause them to lose motivation, leading to a decrease in productivity. Financial incentives are most commonly used to motivate employees to increase their productivity. The literature study focused on employee productivity, incentives and employee motivation. The factors that influence productivity, the types of incentives used and how employees are motivated were the main focus points. Previous studies with similar objectives were compared to determine whether the results of this study are supported by previous research. A questionnaire was developed based on the literature study to determine which rewards motivate the most and whether production bonuses can be used to motivate employees. The questionnaire also measured the respondents’ opinions regarding rewards and their influence on their productivity. The target population was a platinum mine in the North West province of South Africa. A total of 275 questionnaires were retrieved and used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis was done to determine whether the sample was representative of the target population and to describe the sample. Exploratory factor analysis was done to determine the number of constructs identified in this study. These factors were then used together with the frequency data to determine the differences between wage categories. Effect sizes were used to determine the size of the differences between the wage categories. The factors that were identified were productivity, motivation, willingness to do work, section productivity, demotivation and clear targets. The results indicated that rewards had a large positive effect on productivity and motivation and a large negative effect on demotivation. It was also concluded that production bonuses can be used to motivate employees to increase their productivity. Rewards were also a large contributor to employee happiness. The study further concluded that there is a difference in how employees in different wage categories are influenced by production bonuses. Based on the conclusions, recommendations are made to management on how they can use these results to assist in the planning and revising of production bonuses and reward systems. The study was evaluated based on the achievement of the primary and secondary objectives and whether the research question was answered. The study had some limitations, which are discussed before recommendations are made for future studies.