Incentives and Employee Performance in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Volta River Authority, Ghana

Abstract

Incentives are considered to be one of the most important tools used by organisational managers to increase the level of motivation of employees to ensure improved performance. In view of this, the study was carried out to investigate the influence of incentives on employee performance at the Volta River Authority of Ghana. Using a positivism paradigm, the study embraced an explanatory research design while the research approach used was quantitative. A simple random sampling technique was used to sample 152 out of 250 staff of the Volta River Authority. Quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire. With the help of the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 software programme, the quantitative data was processed, analysed, and interpreted accordingly using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistical tool (linear regression). The findings of the study revealed that financial incentives and non-financial incentives were found to be the forms of incentives available to the employees at the Volta River Authority of Ghana. The findings of the study also showed that both financial and non-financial incentives have a statistically significant effect on employee performance at the Volta River Authority. The study, therefore, recommended that there should be a constant upward review of both financial and non-financial incentives by the management of the Volta River Authority to positively influence and enhance employee performance.