104 TOTAL REWARDS FOR TECHNICAL WORKERS

Kochanski, Mastropolo and Ledford (2003) were also concerned with retention issues in
their survey of 1999 R&D unit leaders. Respondents were asked which factors are most
important for attracting and retaining R&D workers. The work itself was ranked most important,
followed by long term career opportunities and a unique work culture. Cash compensation
followed distantly. Aligning these with the Total Rewards framework: work itself fits with Work
Environment; career opportunities with Learning and Development; unique work culture with
Work Environment; and cash compensation with Pay. No facets of Benefits were included in the
study. These results are also shown in Table 2.
Chen, Ford and Ferris (1999) did a questionnaire study of 1109 technical workers in
R&D units. Respondents were asked to rate the degree to which various reward types benefited
the organization. The ranking of their rewards was: intrinsic, individual fixed, socioemotional,
collective variable and individual variable. The correspondences with Total Rewards have
intrinsic and socioemotional fitting under Work Environment; while individual fixed, collective
variable and individual variable fit under Pay. Thus, their finding was that Work Environment
rewards have greater benefits for the organization than does Pay, as seen in Table 2.
Keller, Julian and Kedia (1996) studied the effect of a number rewards-related variables
on the performance of 658 industrial and 1033 academic R&D teams. Independent variables
included the degree of participation and cooperation in the team; the scientific and social
importance of the work being performed by the team; and the satisfaction of team members with
remuneration, opportunities for advancement, and supervision. The dependent variable was team
performance. Work importance had the strongest effect upon productivity, followed by
participation and cooperation. The three satisfaction variables had no consistent effect. Aligning
these results with Total Rewards: Work Environment (importance of the work,
participation/cooperation) clearly affects the productivity of R&D workers. There is minimal
support for an effect of pay satisfaction on productivity, as shown in Table 2.
Four papers comparing multiple rewards in the R&D context have now been reviewed
and the results summarized in Table 2. They show that all four rewards categories are important
to R&D workers and that Work Environment is the most important. A number of different
rewards under Work Environment are individually important to R&D workers. There is little
empirical work which bridges all four categories and more such research should be done. Now to
papers focussing on only one reward category, starting with Learning and Development.
Learning and Development
Cordero, DiTomaso and Farris (1994) studied job satisfaction, turnover and career
development opportunities in 3163 R&D professionals and found a positive relationship between
managerial development opportunities and job satisfaction, but no relationship between technical
development opportunities and job satisfaction. They also found that those with technical
development opportunities were more likely to leave the employer but less likely to leave R&D
for other areas of the firm. Those with managerial development opportunities were more likely to
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