Unsatisfying employment conditions

Insufficient reward systems for good performance and low salaries.

Risk type: Cause

Risk driver: Internal

DESCRIPTION

If there is no reward for good performance, staff may seek to ‘reward’ themselves. The same applies for insufficient salaries that do not allow staff to cover living costs. As a consequence, staff may look for opportunities to ‘top up’ their salaries by engaging in corrupt practices or pursuing other bonuses.

RED FLAGS

• Frequent complaints by employees
• No system for rewards and incentives in place, or exclusion of lower level staff from rewards and incentives
• Low salary levels compared to other organizations in the sector and/or often delayed payments
• A lack of surveys on employee satisfaction, poor results of such surveys, or no action plan to tackle low employee satisfaction

KEY GUIDING DOCUMENTS

Strategic Public Relations and Research Limited, 2009, Corruption Practices and the Available Complaint, Feedback and Redress Tool(s) and Anti-corruption Tool(s) in Water and Sanitation Sector – Bondo District, Strategic Public Relations and Research Limited, Draft prepared for Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

TARGETED EXAMPLES

Staff attitudes unchanged after privatization/commercialization¹

Target group: Utilities, public institutions

Location: Kenya

Lack of staff motivation makes staff prone to corruption. There is no system to reward exceptional performance beyond monthly salaries. Nor is there a bonus for meeting targets, for example in connections or revenue collection. The attitudes of most staff have not changed from public service, making it more difficult to operate optimally.

FULL REFERENCES

1. STRATEGIC, 2009, Corruption Practices and the Available Complaint, Feedback and Redress Tool(s) and Anti-corruption Tool(s) in Water and Sanitation Sector – Bondo District, Strategic Public Relations and Research Limited, Draft prepared for Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)