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Original Research Reward preferences for generations in selected
Information and Communication Technology companies
Orientation: Previous research suggests that different generations have different reward
preferences based on differences in values, frames of reference and life goals. Research purpose: The focus of this study was to determine whether different generations
prefer different rewards in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry 1Department of Industrial Psychology and People in South Africa.
Management, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Motivation for the study: The rationale for this study was to obtain a better understanding
of the reward preferences of Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y in the
Correspondence to:
ICT industry.
Research design, approach and method: The research was a quantitative, cross-sectional,
correlational design. Participants from two ICT companies completed a structured electronic survey. One hundred and sixty four valid responses were received. A Cronbach's alpha of Postal address:
0.821 indicates that the survey was reliable.
PO Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa Main findings: Contrary to previous research, the results show that generations do not display
different reward preferences.
Received: 20 Sept. 2010 Practical/managerial implications: It would be more beneficial to use individual inter-
Accepted: 18 Apr. 2012 relationship factors to develop a reward strategy than generations. Published: 25 Sept. 2012 Contribution/value-add: The research has added insight and value to reward preferences for
How to cite this article:
generations in the ICT sector.
Moore, A., & Bussin, M. (2012). Reward preferences for generations in selected Information and Communication Problem statement
Technology companies. SA Journal of Human Resource The rationale of this study was to determine whether generations such as Veterans, Baby Boomers, Management/SA Tydskrif vir Generation X and Generation Y, prefer specific reward schemes, in line with their beliefs, values, 10(1), Art. #325, 9 pages. needs, drivers and world views. Generations refer to categories of people, who are grouped together as a result of certain events, which had a major impact on their lives, such as World War ll or 9/11 in New York or the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994. The aforementioned generations form the bulk of the South African and other world economies at the moment. Theory states that generations will differ in their reward preferences.
Recent research (Giancola, 2008), reports no correlation between reward preference and generations in the USA. However, Van Rooy (2010) found that in the South African financial sector different generations valued rewards differently. It would appear that an inconsistency exists between generation theory and research.
Background to the study
Giving employees choices regarding their remuneration packages has become a topical issue in
South African organisations (Bussin, 2003). This is in terms of rewards to ensure performance, job
satisfaction and retention of the best people with critical skills to make the company successful.
Companies want high performing individuals and employees want to be rewarded in line with
performance, value add and personal choices.
In an ever-changing, fast moving world, where the only real differentiator in business lies in 2012. The Authors.
people's competence, it is of the utmost importance to win the talent war to attract, develop, motivate and retain the best people in the industry (Chiang & Birtch, 2005; Mohlala, 2011). One OpenJournals. This work way of doing this is to design reward strategies to suit individual choice. This research was is licensed under the exploratory and the primary research objective was to determine whether there are any reward preferences amongst generations in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Original Research Research by Chiang and Birtch (2005) suggests that a recurring, costly cycle and the root problem is often not reward systems in a high technology environment may be determined. It is not unusual in organisations, according different to other sectors. Mohlala (2011) points out that the to a P-E Corporate Survey (September, 2010), to have an Information Technology (IT) skills talent pool is shrinking average annual staff turnover for 22% of ICT staff and 8.5% as a result of increasing demands for IT professionals, and for general staff. rapidly developing technology across industries. This is especially true in a competitive environment where products This research argues that a meaningful way to determine are quickly copied, and a difficult business climate, fierce staff members' aspirations is to talk to the individuals' on a rivalry and globalisation prevail (Chiang & Birtch, 2005). regular basis and to build solid and credible relationships.
Trends from research literature
The next sections set out a review of the literature, research design, findings and discussion including recommendations The concept of personal differences and personal choice is and implications of the study.
not new in the remuneration and reward sphere. For example MacGrain Herkenhoff (2002) investigated the role of culture in reward preferences; and Nienaber and Bussin (2009) Synthesis and critical evaluation of the literature
analysed reward preferences from a personality perspective. Conceptual definitions of key concepts
This research uses the definition of reward as including
pay, benefits, learning and development and the work There are conflicting views as to whether employees in environment (Bussin, 2002a). Generations are defined as the various generations would prefer different rewards. categories of people who are grouped in line with major Articles and non-academic books generally go to great events in their lifetime as per Table 1 for South Africa.
lengths explaining the differences between the generations and emphasising that they want different things. Very little Table 1 indicates how generations are categorised by identifying different dates as periods. These periods empirical research has been carried out to show whether are linked to key events, which had a major impact on or not this is the case. The objective of this research was to the generations. These dates or periods are similar, but determine whether generations within the ICT sector have not exactly the same in all countries, as different events different reward preferences. The results are intended to influenced different countries' generations (Codrington & assist companies with their remuneration designs and Value add of this research
Reward preference research
This research has added insight and value to the area of reward preferences for generations in the ICT sector. It MacGrain Herkenhoff (2000) argues that national cultural differences should be considered when improving the has become clear that money matters to all generations, as effectiveness of reward systems. Previous international it was ranked either first or second by all four generations. studies have indicated that reward preferences are Should this reward cocktail be mixed in line with the likes influenced by culture (MacGrain Herkenhoff, 2000) and and dislikes of individuals, ICT companies may experience demographic variables (Corporate Leadership Council, a higher retention rate of knowledge workers, which could 2002). Further, significant gaps have been found between result in better customer services and increased profits. what employees report as their top reasons for joining and leaving organisations and what employers think these As mentioned above, the ICT sector faces challenges of scarce reasons are (Ellis, 2009). It is for this reason that research into skills. Staff mobility between companies occurs when better the characteristics and preferences of employees is essential career prospects and higher salaries are offered. Continuous when developing a reward strategy.
up-skilling of staff and the provision of career trajectories are critical to retain staff members. Being able to match the Nienaber and Bussin (2009) found that total rewards reward structure to the preferences of staff is a key talent models structured according to individual preferences, retention strategy (Mohlala, 2011). Staff turnover becomes positively influence efforts to attract, retain and motivate key TABLE 1: Generation timelines in different countries.
Generation
Europe or UK
South Africa
Source: Codrington, G., & Grant-Marshall, S. (2004). Mind the Gap! Johannesburg: Penguin Books (Pty) Ltd †, GI is an acronym for ‘Government Issue' and is commonly used to refer to veterans who fought in World War II. ‡, The boundaries for Generation Y are still flexible. Different cut-off dates will gradually emerge for different countries or regions marking the end of Generation Y.
Original Research employees. Yet, this is seldom carried out. Structuring total and levels within the organisation and has not taken into rewards models according to the preferences of employee account factors such as generation. segments is a viable alternative to accommodating individual preferences. Nienaber and Bussin's (2009) study focussed Generations
on the relationship between personality types, personality The generations identified for the twentieth century are the preferences, temperaments, demographic variables and GI or Hero Generation, Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation reward preferences to enhance understanding of reward X and Generation Y. Shelton and Shelton (2005), Lammiman preferences for different segments. Their main findings and Syrett (2004) and Codrington and Grant-Marshall (2004), indicated statistically significant differences in respect of the classified the differences amongst the generations. The reward preferences of people in different segments and they generation gaps are resultant of cohorts or defining moments concluded that management can more effectively structure in people's lives and history. Some defining moments for reward models according to these preferences without each generation, are highlighted in Table 2. increasing overall costs (Nienaber & Bussin, 2009).
This table illustrates the differences amongst the generations Typically, generic reward schemes are implemented in and how views and attitudes have changed between the companies according to job grading systems to pay employees Veterans and the Generation Y in most aspects of life. in the workplace (Bussin, 2002b). Reward preferences in line Technology, for example, enabled the generations to with specific generation requirements have not been widely communicate globally at the push of a button, whereas in the considered. According to Karp, Fuller and Sirias (2002) 1920s it took weeks to send a letter to another country.
policies are often created by Baby Boomers and the needs of Generation X and Generation Y are not always catered for. If reward preference is based on some combination of values, This in return generates a gap between the reward system motivations and preferences (Chiang & Birtch, 2005), and and the expectations of employees. generational theory states that generations differ in their attitudes, then it may be the case that generational differences The rationale behind the present study was to obtain will affect reward preferences. a better understanding of the reward preferences of Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y in the ICT sector. This is useful for the way rewards are People work to be rewarded and to obtain work satisfaction. structured and implemented. To date, research has mostly Different people will require different ‘formulas' in which focused on remuneration and rewards per job categories they want to be rewarded for work completed. This research TABLE 2: Differences in the generations.
Attribute
Generation X (1961–1980)
Generation Y (1981–2007)
Defining values and Reserved, clean-living, gentlemanly Personal gratification, wellness, Balance, self-reliance, Respect, independent, loyal, success, bossy, stylish, inquisitive, pragmatism, individualistic, humour, tolerant, caring, honest, competitive, talkative arrogant, risk-taking balanced, optimistic, clean-cut Pay your due, work hard If you have it, flash it Whatever … enigmatic Let's make the world a better place Formal, hierarchical, loyal, hard- Visionary, idealistic, workaholic, Caution, creative, realistic, low key, Civil-minded, visionary, confident, working, low key, detail-orientated energetic, bossy, loud, innovative, flexible, independent, optimistic, moralistic, principled, reward-driven, consensus adaptable, competence Burgeoning airmail, telephone Post, courier services, telex, Personal computers, internet, Email, internet, web, sms, PC with email, web, cellular phones voice recognition, digital voice Security, stability Shopping, ostentation, winning, Sharing, chilling, being Shopping, labels, family, friends, individualistic, being with the environment, technology Debt, borrowing, upstart young Paying off debt, aging Bossiness, corporate culture Dishonesty, unbalanced life, Discover penicillin, Great Mau Mau revolt, Russia launched Launched microchip, Watergate, Internet, virtual communities, Depression, World War ll, Sputnik, contraceptive pill, Nelson right to abortion, test-tube baby, 24/7 lifestyle, baggage free, Nelson Pearl Harbour, Hiroshima Mandela sentenced to life, cold Margaret Thatcher – first female Mandela released, Princess Diana war, assassinations, feminist Prime Minister, Working moms, dies, Dolly the clone sheep, Viagra, movement, Soweto riots Challenger, latchkey kids, Berlin SMS, 9/11, Iraq war, email wall comes down, divorced Work hard because it is my duty, Driven , self-fulfil ing, makes me feel Balanced, fund lifestyle, career Enjoy change, entrepreneurial, will important, job security and career rather than security help to change the world, parallel Success is a result of Political savvy, networking skills High energy, fast-thinking, quick- Security, save for a rainy day Enjoyment, owe the bank money Survival, means to an end Immediate gratification and to save Lucky to have one – We'll do our I'll listen, but I can teach myself There's more to school than Grinned and bore the pain Doctor must cure me immediately Alternative therapy Obsessed with keeping healthy No news is good news Immediate feedback Feedback whenever I need PC, personal computer. Original Research uses the model by Bussin (2002a) as it is holistic and Giancola (2008) found that there is a greater importance of appropriate to South Africa. life stage over generation profiles in understanding employee needs. He also emphasised that all people are primarily Bussin (2002a) adapted a remuneration model called Total concerned about their job, career and compensation, no Reward Mix. The Reward Mix is structured in four categories matter what the generation and therefore concludes that namely pay, benefits, learning and development and the reward preferences are determined by lifecycle rather than work environment. Figure 1 sets out the Total Reward Mix.
by generations.
The pay component of the model includes a base salary, Giancola (2006) has expressed his concern that the generation variable pay such as incentives, commissions and bonuses. gap has been overstated by theorists and that the generation Recognition could include dinners and award clubs, whilst theory has major gaps. His research found that in terms of shares or share options are linked to a long-term incentive.
rewards, Baby Boomers are more interested in retirement planning and Generation Y prefers career development. He The second aspect of this reward model is benefits. It consists contends that these differences are linked to life stage rather of access to a medical aid, Employee Assistance Programmes than to generation preferences.
(EAP), health care such as clinics and help lines. Retirement is often only considered in a serious light when employees Different people have different reward preferences based on their personal disposition. The research of Cable and Judge The world and the work environment change at a rapid (1994) suggests that this has more to do with individual pace. Employees want to learn and improve themselves. Companies that support learning and development are personality traits than with generation theory. ranked high amongst the top companies to work for in South Africa (Corporate Research Foundation, 2005).
In a study conducted by Chiu, Luk and Tang (2002), it was suggested that reward preferences are more a function of The work environment is not always considered as part of economics, and are related to geography and culture. It was the reward strategy of a company. Technology and work further contended that: relations are important aspects of the work environment. Wilson (1999) discussed the importance of the company culture, leadership, strategy and the impact thereof on the reward strategy. It is imperative for the company to provide performance support and constructive feedback to employees in order to adjust and grow, resulting in increased productivity and profitability (Milkovich & Newman, 2005). Learning and Development
All companies have access to the four categories of rewards, • Career development • Organisational climate but success lies in how these aspects are mixed and matched • Performance management to address the employees' preferences. Milkovich and • Succession planning • Performance support Newman (2005) developed a reward system model where • Work and life balance the components are clearly stipulated as shown in Figure 2.
FIGURE 1: Total reward mix.
This model echoes the model that is used by Bussin (2002a). It Component of reward system
is indicative of the fact that reward systems are multi-faceted Salaries, wages, commissions and and that no simple, single solution exists. From a practical viewpoint, the challenge is to manage the model in line with Vacations, health insurance the requirements and expectations of the generations and to 3. Social interaction Friendly workplace maintain a fair and equitable reward system, aligned to the Stable, consistent position and rewards company's strategic objectives.
5. Status or recognition Respect, prominence as a result of work, opportunity to experience Although reward models have broad strokes of similarity at Right amount of work a strategic level, an indicator of a successful reward system Is work valued by society is the way in which it is deployed. For the purpose of this 8. Work importance Ability to influence others; control own destiny, chance to be ahead study, the Total Reward Mix model was used to facilitate the 9. Authority or control or autonomy Receive information helping to research as it was based on a South African context. improve performance, hazard free Formal and informal training to learn new knowledge, skills, abilities Research on generations and rewards
Very little research has been carried out on the relationship 12. Work conditions between generations and rewards. The research that has 13. Development opportunity been performed has not found clear-cut results. For instance, FIGURE 2: Components of total reward system.
Original Research The meaning of money is ‘in the eye of the beholder' and can TABLE 3: Biographical details.
be perceived as their ‘frame of reference' in which they examine Number of
their everyday lives. On the one hand, it is possible to simply pay higher wages and lower benefits to satisfy employees' needs. On the other hand, some benefits are quite important to employees. The same benefit does not suit every worker. Workers do differ in their valuation of various benefits. Thus, a cafeteria plan, for Level of position example, which gives a worker more flexibility in benefit choices, Senior management can provide the most value to the worker for a given amount of Middle management expenditure. Researchers and managers of human resources and compensation need to identify the most important compensation components and satisfy employees' needs. (p. 403) A framework of reward preferences and different generations has been established. The next sections set out the research design, results and discussion.
This research made use of a quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational design. A new questionnaire was developed and was forwarded via electronic mail to the Human Resources divisions of two ICT companies, based in Johannesburg. The contact people in the Human Resources divisions were asked Single, never married to distribute the questionnaire to a stratified sample of staff. Thus primary data was used for the analysis. Separated, divorced, Research participants
The staff complement for both companies combined is 4450.
The limitation of this theoretical categorisation is The strata were proportionate by job level with every third acknowledged. It is, however, based on current literature, person receiving a questionnaire. A total of 165 responses and needs to be validated in the South African context.
were received from the participants. This represents a response rate of 11%. The respondents representing the Reward: The questionnaire was divided into four
various companies in the survey are reflected in Table 3.
categories of rewards.
The level of the participants' current positions is captured in Table 5. The participants were mainly general staff and supervisors, White and male. Generation X and Baby Boomers were the two largest groups. • variable pay (commissions, incentives, bonuses, profit share, overtime, special assignment pay, standby The valid percentage calculated took the dropout rate into account (Gourard, 2004). After cleaning the data, there were • recognition (status, prominence as a result of work status, 164 usable responses. work valued in society, awards, letters, complements, trophies, personalised items, hobbies) • long-term incentives (deferred pay, shares schemes).
A structured questionnaire was designed to gather the data on the reward preferences of the participants. The questionnaire consisted of closed-ended and ranking questions to gather • health (medical aid, life insurance, on-site health care, the information. A combination of questions was used. HIV and/or Aids awareness and training, EAP, wellness Firstly, a 5-point Likert Scale was used, ranging from strongly programme, 24 hour hotline) agree to strongly disagree and secondly to correlate the views, • retirement (provident fund, financial advice) it was combined with ranking questions.
• savings (company contributions to provident fund)• time-off (leave such as annual, sick, maternity or paternity, Generations: The generations were categorised as follows:
compassionate, family responsibility, community and • Veterans (1920–1940) charity, in lieu of overtime) • Boomers (1941–1960) • perks (uniform allowance, travel, company arrangements • Generation X (1961–1980) with financial institutes, concierge services, crèches, • Generation Y (1981–2000).
canteens, security, petrol cards, cell phone allowances).
Original Research Learning and development: The item inter-correlation was subjected to a KMO and a • career development (experience different things, Bartlett's test and was 0.761, which is higher than 0.7, making challenges, promotion) the matrix suitable for being factor analysed. Two factor • performance management (feedback, right amount and analytic methods were used to determine the four factors, complexity of work) which are used in the research. Firstly, the extraction method • succession plan (change to get ahead) was the Principal Axis Factoring and secondly, Varimax • training (knowledge, skills improvement, projects, with Kaizer Normalisation was used as a rotation method. experiential learning, formal development plans).
It was determined that the Cronbach alpha was 0.821 and therefore the scale was reliable. Table 4 reflects the outcome Work environment: of the responses on a 5-point scale, which has been reduced to a 3-point scale for ease of reference. The categories of • organisational climate (friendly, secure, flexi-time, flexi- ‘Not important at all' and ‘Unimportant' were combined place, part-time, fun, peer and management relations, and were named ‘Unimportant' in Table 6. The ‘Important' technology, 24/7 lifestyle, email, internet, shopping, category is a combination of ‘Important' and ‘Extremely global community, travel) • leadership (ability to influence and inspire, values, During the analysis, five Eigen values (5.239; 2.148; 1.520; • performance support (create a learning environment to 1.333 and 1.055) were identified, which accounted for 66.4% support and enhance performance) of the variance. To compare the empirical research with the • work or life balance (work, personal, family, friends, theory, a four factor analysis was forced. The outcome is hobbies and community).
reflected in Table 5. The communalities of the variables are Once completed, the Human Resources departments determined for the first number of factors. This procedure is forwarded the electronic submissions to the researcher. repeated until the sum does not change (Gorsuch, 1983). The The completed questionnaires were then forwarded to Rotated Factor Matrix is displayed in Table 5, which displays the Statistical Consultation Service at the University of the different item loadings on the four postulated factors.
Johannesburg for data capture and analysis. The categories as per the literature research, versus the outcome of the empirical research, are reflected in Table 6. The The questionnaire was developed from the literature review literature research has four categories, namely pay, benefits, and then piloted with 12 work colleagues and remuneration learning and development and work environment. During experts. Appropriate suggestions were taken into account the empirical research, the sub-elements did not correlate and the questionnaire was amended accordingly. Human completely to the literature research. The four categories in Resources representatives from two organisations were the empirical research were labelled Total Cost to Company approached and asked if they would distribute the electronic (TCTC), over and above TCTC, career and work atmosphere. questionnaire to a stratified sample of 1500 employees in their organisations. The questionnaire was then emailed Although the two clusters of categories are different, the to the selected employees, with a return date and address outcome of the research still provides natural groupings of of the Human Resources representative. The completed different categories or rewards, specific to the ICT industry. questionnaires could be delivered anonymously, faxed To determine the reward preferences of the generations the or emailed to the Human Resources representative, who mean descriptive for each category is ranked per generations collated the responses for the researcher. Once the cut-off date had passed, the researcher collected the completed questionnaires from the Human Resources representatives.
In this section, statistical analyses were completed on the data to determine whether a relationship exists between the theory and the findings of the research. The Kruskal Wallis In the research, the relationship between the Independent Test was used to test normality. None of the four categories Variable (Generations) and the Dependent Variable was normally distributed. The Kruskal-Wallis Test identified (Rewards) was clarified. To determine the reward preferences a significant difference between Generation X and Baby of the generations, the Kruskal-Wallis Test was applied to Boomers with their views around the category of career, determine the mean descriptives of each category related to H(2, N = 93) = 11.816, p < 0.008. No significant differences were the different generations. found based on TCTC package, over and above package or the company's working atmosphere amongst the generations. The Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that Generation X The specific aspects explored in this study were to determine (n = 43) will focus more on career than Baby Boomers (n = 50), if generations prefer different rewards or not. A synopsis z = -3.364, p = 0.05/6 = 0.0083. From the summary in Table 7, of the biographical data is reflected in Table 3 in the it is clear from the research that the generations prefer TCTC previous section.
to the over and above TCTC rewards. Original Research Potential benefits and hazards
This research study posed no material hazard to any of the respondents. Although participants may benefit from an enriched theoretical understanding of the relationship between generations and reward strategies, there were no direct benefits associated with participation in the study.
Recruitment procedures
The stratified sample was randomly selected and no participants were singled-out or pre-selected. Participation was voluntary and there was no obligation to complete the All questionnaires were anonymous and no information can be linked back to individual participants. The confidentiality of the data was maintained throughout the study. Neither portant nor
The internal reliability of the questionnaire was measured and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.821 indicates that the research instrument was reliable.
The reward labels assigned to the factor analysis are substantially similar to the reward models currently in use by the market today. This allowed some stability in the reward model relative to the literature and allowed the present N portant nor
research to focus on generation preferences.
U portant
Outline of the results
The findings of the research indicate that there is no direct
relationship between reward preferences and generations in the ICT industry. This finding supports the research of Giancola (2008), who states that different generations do not prefer different rewards. All the generations rated TCTC (salary, health care, retirement benefits and share options) as the most important aspect of rewards, except for the Baby Boomers, who rated it in the second position. This finding N portant nor unim
supports work carried out by Medcof and Rumpel (2007) who found that pay and then benefits were preferred rewards. ories aligned with g Unim- port
The lowest rated aspect of rewards for all the generations that participated was over and above TCTC (perks, savings and variable pay). It is clear from the research that the older the participant, the lower the rating of the career (career development, performance management, performance support, recognition, succession planning, time off, training) aspect of rewards. Both Generations X and Y ranked career as second on their list of reward importance, whereas it slipped into third position for the Baby Boomers and in last position The leader style of the or The organi-sational clima or for the Veterans. Original Research TABLE 5: Results of the rotated factor matrix.
Factor
Rotated factor matrix
To have training opportunities To receive career development To receive performance support in the organisation The performance management system in the organisation To have succession planning within the organisation To receive recognition within the organisation The have time-off options To receive share or share options To have health care benefits To receive retirement benefits To receive a base salary The organisational climate within the organisation The leadership style of the organisation To have work/life balance To receive incentives to save To have a variable pay component as part of the remuneration plan Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalisation.
Bold values indicate factor loadings.
TABLE 6: Categories according to the literature versus research.
Literature categories
Long-term incentives (Factor 2 in Table 5) Retirement benefits Over and above TCTC Package (Factor 4 in Table 5) Learning and development Career development Career (Factor 1 in Table 5) Career development Performance management Performance Management Succession planning Performance support Succession planning Training opportunities Company's working atmosphere Organisational climate (Factor 3 in Table 5) Organisational climate Performance support Work/life integration Work/life balance TCTC, Total Cost to Company.
TABLE 7: Mean descriptive of categories aligned with generations.
Research categories
Generation Y (1981–2000)
Generation X (1961–1980)
Baby boomers (1941–1960)
Over and above TCTC package Company's working atmosphere TCTC, Total Cost to Company.
The career aspect of reward is the only category that shows to build solid and credible relationships. This is supported by a significant difference (of 0.008 Kruskal-Wallis Non Para research by Towers Perrin (2007), which resulted in the label Metric, and 0.0083 as per the Mann-Whitney U-test, which ‘my-pay-my-way'. This concept refers to employers asking are both smaller than 0.05). This significant difference may be employees specifically what their reward preferences are. subscribed to the lifecycle element as discussed by Giancola This needs to be carried out within certain parameters and (2008). The rating of company atmosphere (leadership style, the benefit should outweigh the cost.
organisational climate and work and life integration) seems to vary amongst the generations. Interestingly, the Baby Limitations of this research
Boomers ranked the company's working atmosphere higher The following aspects are considered limitations to this study: • Only two ICT companies participated in the survey, which It seems that the only way to determine staff members' may not be representative of the industry as a result of the aspirations is to talk to the individuals on a regular basis and core business focuses. Original Research • Surveys were self-administered, and relied on a volunteer The final conclusion is that although rewards are not linked to generations in the ICT industry, it is clear that one size • The research design was cross-sectional, and is not able to does not fit all and companies need to be sensitive and follow participants over time. provide employees with flexible rewards options.
• The generation categories used come from global events and may not be 100% applicable to South Africa.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal As a result of this study, the following research is suggested relationship(s) that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this paper.
• This study could be completed in a different industry to determine whether generations in different industries prefer different rewards.
• It is recommended that research is completed focusing on A.M. (University of Johannesburg) conceptualised the gender and race, to develop an even better reward model research topic, and conducted all field work and data in the South African context.
analysis. M.B. (University of Johannesburg) supervised the • To measure the impact of a generation's customised reward conceptualisation, research, and analysis of this study and strategy on staff retention and customer satisfaction, as wrote the article for publication. well as the impact on the bottom line.
• To determine whether rewards are linked to the individual's career life cycle.
Bussin, M. (2002a). Choosing the right Incentive Scheme. Randburg: Knowledge • To determine the reason(s) why Baby Boomers ranked Company's Work Atmosphere as the most important Bussin, M. (2002b). Retention Strategies. Randburg: Knowledge Resources Publishing.
Bussin, M. (2003). Factors driving changes to remuneration policy and outcomes. aspect of rewards.
Doctoral thesis, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Cable, D.M., & Judge, T.A. (1994). Pay preferences and job search decisions: A person- Recommendations and implications
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to tailor make their reward preferences by generation. The Corporate Leadership Council. (2002). The Compelling Offer Revisited: Changes in Employee Preferences over time. Washington DC: Corporate Executive Board. main recommendation is that organisations need not spend Codrington, G., & Grant-Marshall, S. (2004). Mind the Gap! Johannesburg: Penguin those hours or money in debate, but rather take the unit of Books (Pty) Ltd.
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Corporate Research Foundation. (2005). The Best Companies to work for in South Africa. (6th edn.). Paarl: Corporate Research Foundation Publishing.
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Gourard, S. (2004). Quantitative Methods in Social Science. Norfolk: Biddles Ltd.
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