Total Reward Concept: A Key Motivational Tool for Corporate Ghana

Abstract

This paper examines the concept of total reward and its application in motivating employees in Ghana. Total reward as an integral element of reward management is the combination of financial and non-financial rewards given to employees in exchange for their efforts. The aim of total reward is to maximize the combined impact of a wide range of reward elements on motivation, commitment and job engagement. Hence, total reward embraces everything that employees’ value in the employment relationship. In spite of the growing need to pay attention to the concept of total reward, it appears most Ghanaian organisations place more emphasis on traditional rewards that are typically extrinsic and financial in nature. Thus, most Ghanaian organisations pay too much attention to financial rewards at the expense of non-financial rewards. This paper thus examines existing literature on the concept of total reward to determine whether the adoption of total reward strategy could be the answer to corporate Ghana in its bid to obtain maximum efforts from employees.