An investigation into the role played by employee motivation practices in enhancing the performance of employees in parastatal organisations: a case of Zambia Airport Corporation limited.

This study was aimed at investigating the role played by employee motivation practices in enhancing the performance of employees in parastatal organisations, using a case study of the Zambia Airports Corporation (ZACL) headquarters. The main objective of the study was to explore the reward and compensation practices of ZACL and to determine the extent of their effectiveness to motivate individual employees working at ZACL.
Based on literature review used in this research, it was clear how important the right combination of compensation strategies improved motivation. Employees should be aware of the relationship between their level of performance and how they were rewarded for that performance. This study examined how effective the compensation practices at ZACL and whether they enhanced workers’ motivation at the organisation.
The research strategy for this the study combined both the exploratory and descriptive approaches using both qualitative and quantitative methodology. To collect the primary data, the researcher administered questionnaires to collect information from ZACL employees from the various departments. In-depth semi-structured interviews were administered to human resource officers at ZACL.
The findings indicated that ZACL had an elaborate system of incentives that aimed at motivating employees. The main reward mechanisms included competitive salaries, allowances coupled with healthcare allowances, training and development programmes and personal-to-holder vehicles among others. The measures have the potential to raise the level of motivation for the employees in order to maximise productivity. However, there were mixed perceptions from the respondents with some viewing these strategies as effective while others viewed these as being ineffective in motivating employees and enhancing their performance.
The study recommended that for ZACL’s motivation measures to be more effective, they had to be seen to be given on merit and awarded in a transparent manner.