Rewards and retention of technical staff

Retention of technical staff is a major issue in today's robust economy, and reward systems are frequently used by companies to try to retain staff. The reward, recognition, and award systems of thirty companies were investigated using questionnaire survey data from 1109 technical employees. Twenty-five rewards and recognition events were divided into seven types: salary, individual financial awards, group financial rewards, nonfinancial company recognition, professional recognition, promotions and intrinsic rewards. Each was then related to the individual's self-reported likelihood of leaving the current company within five years. Those most likely to leave reported receiving fewer merit increases, noncash awards, or promotions to corporate fellow status but more one-time individual cash awards, more cash bonuses based on company profits, more team cash awards, and more opportunities to present their work. These results were interpreted to mean that one-time recognition awards are not effective in preventing turnover; rather, small, noncash awards and good old fashioned permanent salary increases and promotion were most effective in reducing the reported likelihood of turnover. One-time awards are no substitute for permanent rewards when it comes to retention.