Findings
Organizational rewards and responsibilities
Several themes emerge from the ethnographic survey, which were shared by both
organizations. The common themes were a distrust of appraisal and performance-related
pay and a belief that there was an inequity of treatment between high and low producers
centring on arbitrary standards of discipline. Most participants were strongly against
being rated for performance-related pay, even some that received it. In almost all cases
the phrase “it’s not fair” was used. Some participants also referred to training
opportunities as being given or withheld by managers, very often as a “grace or favour”.
There was resentment that rewards were being given at times to the undeserving.
Representative questionnaire and study sample comments included the following: