TITLE:
Effect of Financial Incentives on Employee Morale and Motivation of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Ekiti State
AUTHORS:
Adeduro Adesola Ogunmakin
KEYWORDS:
Merit Pay, Bonus, Motivation, Financial Incentive, Employee Morale, Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.13 No.6,
June
28,
2023
ABSTRACT: The study
investigated the effect of financial incentives on employee morale and
motivation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ekiti State, Nigeria, to
establish whether merit pay and bonuses significantly affect employee morale
and motivation of SMEs in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study employed a survey research method to obtain the
needed data. Data on merit pay and bonuses represented the financial incentive
measurement, while employee morale and motivation of SMEs represented the
dependent variable which was sourced primarily through a well-structured
questionnaire. The study
administered the structured questionnaire to two hundred and forty respondents
who were SME owners, managers, and employees in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State,
Nigeria. The collated data were analysed through descriptive statistics and
ANOVA regression statistics. The result of multiple regression showed
that merit positively and significantly affects employee morale and motivation
ages of SMEs with the t-statistics and probability of (t = 7.288; 0.000 0.002 0.05. The study concluded that
financial incentive has a significant effect on employee morale and motivation
of SMEs in Ekiti State, Nigeria.