Contingent reward, punishment and employee performance

Background: This paper investigated the connection between transactional
leadership styles, contingent rewards, punishments, and employee
performance while emphasizing employee engagement's mediating role.
Existing research has predominantly focused on isolated associations
between contingent rewards, punishment, and employee performance, leaving
gaps in the empirical exploration of these mediating mechanisms. To
address this research gap, our study has introduced a conceptual framework
to understand the multifaceted connection between contingent rewards,
punishment, and their effects on employee performance, with a specific
emphasis on the mediating function of employee engagement. Methods: We
involved 273 full-time non-clinical healthcare professionals employed in
NABH-accredited hospitals in Jharkhand, India. A structured survey
instrument was employed for data collection from the specific survey
participants, with the investigation of the research hypotheses conducted
through the application of partial least squares-structural equation
modeling (PLS-SEM).  Results: Preliminary findings suggested that
contingent rewards and punishment do not directly influence employee
performance. Instead, our study highlighted the critical mediating role of
employee engagement, particularly its dimensions of Vigor, absorption, and
dedication. Conclusions: This research has underscored rewards and
punishments as essential tools for influencing employee behaviour,
motivation, and performance. Employee engagement, as a multifaceted
construct, not only benefits individual employees but also significantly
impacts overall organizational performance and success.

研究背景：本文探讨了交易型领导风格、权变奖励、惩罚与员工绩效之间的关联，并着重强调员工敬业度的中介作用。现有研究大多仅聚焦于权变奖励、惩罚与员工绩效之间的孤立关联，尚未对这类中介机制开展充分的实证探索。为填补这一研究空白，本研究构建了一套概念框架，用以剖析权变奖励、惩罚及其对员工绩效的多维度关联，并特别关注员工敬业度的中介功能。
研究方法：本研究纳入了印度贾坎德邦（Jharkhand）NABH认证医院的273名全职非临床医疗从业人员作为研究对象。采用结构化调研问卷开展数据收集，并通过偏最小二乘结构方程模型（Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling, PLS-SEM）对研究假设进行检验。
研究结果：初步分析结果显示，权变奖励与惩罚并未对员工绩效产生直接影响。相反，本研究证实了员工敬业度，尤其是其活力（Vigor）、沉浸（Absorption）与奉献（Dedication）三个维度的关键中介作用。
研究结论：本研究证实，奖励与惩罚是影响员工行为、动机与绩效的核心手段。员工敬业度作为多维度构念，不仅能为员工个体带来益处，更会对组织整体绩效与运营成功产生显著影响。