The importance of pay in employee motivation: Discrepancies between what people say and what they do

A majority of human resources professionals appear to believe that employees are likely to overreport the importance of pay in employee surveys. However, research suggests the opposite is actually true. We review evidence showing the discrepancies between what people say and do with respect to pay....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHuman resource management Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 381 - 394
Main Authors Rynes, Sara L., Gerhart, Barry, Minette, Kathleen A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.12.2004
Wiley Periodicals Inc
Subjects
Attitude surveys
Behavior
Compensation
Employee attitude
Employee involvement
Employees
Human resource management
Incentives
Job enrichment
Meta-analysis
Monetary incentives
Motivation
Polls & surveys
Productivity
Studies
United States > US
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Summary:A majority of human resources professionals appear to believe that employees are likely to overreport the importance of pay in employee surveys. However, research suggests the opposite is actually true. We review evidence showing the discrepancies between what people say and do with respect to pay. We then discuss why pay is likely to be such an important general motivator, as well as a variety of reasons why managers might underestimate its importance. We note that pay is not equally important in all situations or to all individuals, and identify circumstances under which pay is likely to be more (or less) important to employees. We close with recommendations for implementing research findings with respect to pay and suggestions for evaluating pay systems. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Bibliography:ArticleID:HRM20031
istex:88D894B57322D45FE8A6DDE57A06B0019DE93897
ark:/67375/WNG-R40RDM78-S
ISSN:0090-4848
1099-050X
DOI:10.1002/hrm.20031