Effect of Employee Rewards on Employee Performance at the Kenya Police Service

The success and performance of any organization are determined by among others, the way the workers are remunerated and rewarded. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of employee rewards on employee performance. The study was anchored on social exchange theory. According to this theory, an employee will interact with his employer to gain a reward and the employer will interact with his employee to achieve organizational goals. The positivism approach was used to aid in hypothesis testing. The study used a cross-sectional research design. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to a sample size of 397 respondents drawn from the Kenya Police Service. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The study found that non-financial rewards were more valued than financial rewards. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between employee rewards and employee performance. These findings are in line with Social Exchange Theory based on the act of reciprocity in which case the actors (employer/employee) reciprocate to each other. Reciprocity and fair exchange appear to be influential in the context of reward, work attitude, and leadership style and performance. It is therefore concluded that employee rewards influence employee performance in the Kenya Police Service, thus, Kenya Police Service should always reward employees. The study recommends that policymakers at the Kenya Police Service should embrace employee rewards. The study suggests that further research be conducted in other counties not included in this study and the results be compared for generalization purposes. It is also recommended that similar studies be conducted in the Kenya Defence Forces and private firms dealing with security issues. This will allow for the generalization of the results.  Keywords: Employee Rewards, Employee Performance at the Kenya Police Service DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/14-2-06 Publication date: January 31st 202