Measuring Total Reward Satisfaction: Scale Development and Empirical Validation for Public Sector Employees in India

The poor performance of many public sector undertakings in India, due to ill-structured reward strategy and the resulting employee dissatisfaction leading to reduced employee loyalty, is a matter of high concern. The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive scale to measure employee’s total reward satisfaction by identifying the contributing factors and test its empirical validity in the Indian context. A suitable instrument was developed by adapting the items associated with five major dimensions of rewards identified from the literature in addition to other relevant items to the Indian context. Sample data was collected from various public sector industries in South India. The exploratory factor analysis revealed seven factors as the total reward dimensions instead of five in the base model. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument. This validated measurement scale with 23 items and seven dimensions can be used as an effective tool for assessing employee satisfaction based on their various reward dimensions and make necessary modifications in the prevailing rewarding pattern for better employee and organizational performance.