Looking at the rewards associated with employment, some interesting results surfaced.
"Total rewards refer to all elements of remuneration, benefits and incentives utilised by an organisation. These are used to reward staff in relation to the skills the individuals possess, market stance of the organisation, performance levels and job level within the organisation," explained Pat Smythe, executive chairman of Emergence Growth.
Survey respondents were provided with a list of pay elements, which they then had to rate as important.
The top five rated elements were: salary, provident or pension fund, medical aid or health care, performance bonuses and/or incentives, and maternity leave, with 65%, 63%, 63%, 62% and 52% of respondents rating them as important, respectively.
The lowest scoring elements were: loans for emergencies, vehicle benefits, fuel, crèche and other work-based child-friendly facilities, and entertainment allowance, with 36%, 32%, 29%, 28% and 17%, respectively.
"Medical aid and maternity leave featured in the top five most important elements, contrasting with the fact that child care and child-friendly facilities were voted in the bottom five," said Smythe.
"HIV support programmes was voted sixth from the bottom with 39%, which is quite surprising considering that South Africa has the highest HIV and AIDS infection rate in the world. Businesses should take into consideration, however, that for HIV positive employees this benefit may be of higher importance."
Performance-related rewards, funeral cover and family responsibility leave came in sixth, seventh and eighth, with 51%, 49% and 49% respectively. Leave came in after that with 48%.
"Businesses should take into account the importance placed on family by employees. Though they may not place very high importance on crèche or childcare facilities in the workplace, they do place high importance on taking care of their families when need be, through funeral plans and family responsibility leave."
Study assistance, long-service awards, wellness and employee assistance programmes all came in above HIV support programmes, with 47%, 47%, and 40%, respectively.
"Employers should take note of the fact that good salaries, provident or pension funds and medical aid are the most valued employee benefits, and those that do not offer these benefits could possibly lose both current and possible future employees because of this," said Smythe.
"In a day and age when medical treatment is so expensive, it is in one's best interest to have a medical aid or hospital plan in place, and employees are aware of this. Further, the fact that fuel prices are rising may change the fact that fuel is currently within the bottom five elements, especially for employees who travel long distances to and from work, or those who travel for business purposes."
The Sub-Saharan Employee Engagement Survey marked the first time a detailed survey of this nature, across different countries in Africa, has been compiled.
