Total rewards components and work happiness in new ventures

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of total rewards components (monetary, material and non-monetary) on happiness of employees working in Indian technology-based new ventures. Further, with the theoretical lens of social exchange theory, the mediating role of work engagement between total rewards perceptions and work happiness relationship has also been evaluated. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 201 employees working in Indian technology-based new ventures was conducted. Structural equation modeling was utilized to measure the proposed theoretical model. Regression analysis was conducted to test the direct effects of the hypothesized relationships. Sobel test and bootstrapping analysis were utilized to test the indirect effects of the proposed hypothesized relationship. Findings The findings supported the hypotheses that employees’ perceptions of total rewards have a significant impact on employee work engagement and happiness at work. However, individual component of total rewards, i.e. monetary rewards, demonstrated an insignificant impact on the employee work happiness. Work engagement was positively related to work happiness and fully mediated the relationship between total rewards perceptions and work happiness. Practical implications Special attention should be given to enhance the material and non-monetary rewards, specifically strengthening the feeling of appreciation, learning and growth opportunities and improving feedback functions. Given the challenges of new ventures (productivity and efficiency of talent), management of total rewards mix should be considered as the main concern of human resource (HR) managers and management (founders). The paper also provides important implications for designing a reward system that enhances employee productivity and efficiency in the unstructured and ambiguous work environment of new ventures. Originality/value The present study has significant contributions to the HR, entrepreneurship and positive psychology literature. It is an attempt to understand the association between total rewards components and work happiness via mediating mechanism, i.e. work engagement in new ventures. It also extends research in the entrepreneurial context. The emergence and growth of new ventures in India has meant a growing importance for understanding employees’ needs and expectations and guaranteeing their happiness. The findings of the study contribute to social exchange theory, Vroom’s expectancy and self-determination theory. This research is also a rare investigation of employees’ perspectives in an entrepreneurial context.

Relationship Between Total Rewards Perceptions and Work Engagement Among Chinese Kindergarten Teachers: Organizational Identification as a Mediator

“…This study found that WLBP, DCOP, WCP, and WLP correlated significantly and positively with work engagement. The obtained results corroborate the finding of a previous study (Gulyani and Sharma, 2018 ), which indicated that a high level of monetary rewards and non-monetary rewards may foster employee engagement in work. Employees who were offered a reward package that is consistent with their personal preferences were more likely to engage in work (Pregnolato et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Meanwhile, Social Identity Theory states that the strong relationship between employees and the organization may motivate employees to give their best for the organization (Brown, 2017 ; Pan et al, 2019 ) and increase their level of engagement (Wang and Tseng, 2019 ). When kindergarten teachers get the expected economic or non-economic rewards from the organization, in return, they will have a stronger sense of identity with kindergarten, form a positive psychological state, and immerse themselves in their work (Blau, 1986 ; Gulyani and Sharma, 2018 ). The Conservation of Resources Theory proposes that individuals with more resources not only will try their best to maintain and protect their existing resources but also are more capable of acquiring new resources (Hobfoll, 1989 , 2011 ), thus exhibiting more positive mental states and behaviors (Halbesleben and Wheeler, 2008 ).…”

“…Sufficient work resources can enhance employees' work motivation, increase work engagement, and improve work performance (Demerouti and Bakker, 2011 ; Bakker et al, 2014 ). Rewards, as a kind of resource that employees can access, significantly affect their work engagement (Gulyani and Sharma, 2018 ). Previous studies have compared the impact of non-monetary rewards and monetary rewards on work engagement and found that the effect of monetary rewards on work engagement is lower than that of non-monetary rewards (Scott and McMullen, 2010 ).…”

Role of strategic management for employee engagement and skill development for start-ups

“…Employee engagements benefits in creating a sense of recognition, trained workforce etc. Employee engagement programmes have to be implemented with caution, as the eco-system of startups differs significantly from large corporate (Weiblen and Chesbrough, 2015;Manning, 2016;Gulyani and Sharma, 2018).…”

Impacts of Job Stress and Overall Compensation Benefits on Employees’ Job Satisfaction with Moderation Effect of Leadership: An Empirical Study in the Telecommunication Industry of Cameroon

“…(Chinyio et al, 2018), a study of a sample of 260 respondents of Jigawa state public sectors, stated that compensation elements "salary; pension; gratuity; and bonuses" have a positive influence with "attraction; motivation; job satisfaction; Open Journal of Business and Management and retention of the public sector". In addition, (Gulyani & Sharma, 2018), the study proposed that total reward systems have a strong influence on the personnel's work engagement and happiness at work. Specifically, the pay is considered one of the key factors and individually equivalents four times compared to other compensation factors (Addis et al, 2018).…”