Do Staff Rewards Influence Corporate Performance? An Analysis of Parastatals in Kenya

Abstract

State or public sector corporations are body corporates formed world over to support delivery of specific state mandates mainly commercial or socio-economic service delivery. In Kenya, such corporations are variously referred to as Parastatals or Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs). However, most Parastatals in Kenya have suffered diminished performance thus failing to realize competitiveness in service delivery and business standards. This study sought to identify the influence of staff rewards on the overall performance of Parastatals in Kenya. The study design used was cross-sectional. Data was collected from 102 Parastatals and analyzed using SPSS. The study concluded that provision of staff rewards positively influences attainment of performance targets for Parastatals. This finding supports the study recommendation that Parastatals should mainstream staff rewards as a strategy to promote performance. It is further recommended that financial rewards be accorded higher priority compared with non-financial rewards, and as such Parastatals need to develop appropriate policies and budgetary line items to facilitate provision of staff rewards.