PROTOCOL: Employee work motivation, effort, and performance under a merit pay system: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Human Resource Management
• Psychology

Background:

• Merit pay systems are widely used to incentivize employees.
• The effectiveness of merit pay on motivation and performance requires systematic investigation.
• Understanding the nuances of pay-performance perceptions is crucial for effective reward strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review evidence on whether merit pay predicts employee motivation, effort, and performance.
• To assess if the strength of the merit pay-performance association is moderated by objective and perceived pay-performance links.
• To determine if the impact of merit pay varies based on the type of employee motivation (intrinsic vs. extrinsic).

Main Methods:

• Campbell systematic review protocol.
• Comprehensive literature search for empirical studies on merit pay.
• Data synthesis and analysis of findings related to motivation, effort, and performance outcomes.

Main Results:

• Evidence synthesis is ongoing as this is a review protocol.
• The review will quantify the predictive validity of merit pay on key employee outcomes.
• Analysis will explore moderating factors such as the fairness and transparency of pay-for-performance systems.

Conclusions:

• This systematic review will provide evidence-based insights into the effectiveness of merit pay.
• Findings will inform the design and implementation of compensation strategies to enhance employee motivation and performance.
• The study aims to clarify the conditions under which merit pay is most impactful.