The Ajax dilemma in the digital age - A case-study about rewards and recognition management and the perceptions of fairness

Abstract

Purpose: Drawing on technological development in the labour market, the purpose of this study is to explore how R&R management for knowledge workers is influenced by the external and internal environment and is perceived in relation to fairness. Theory: The study draws on the institutional logics perspective, offering a framework for analysing how macro-level ideal systems can influence micro-level practices. This theory builds on the understanding that individuals, organisations, and society interplay in a broader social system where multiple expectations and tensions need to be balanced. Method: A qualitative case study was conducted, involving 18 one-to-one interviews with HR professionals, employees and managers working within the D&IT domain in a Swedish multinational company. The interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis inspired by the coded theory method. Result: The result revealed that R&R management was externally influenced by the high competition in the D&IT labour market, by which the challenge of attracting and retaining D&IT professionals was prominent. It was found that social change in terms of social media advancement and work hybridisation has pressured R&R to adapt to a new social context characterised by individualised professional networking. Internally, R&R was influenced by the company’s growth and global expansion, for which cost-efficiency and cultural conformity have shaped the local implementation of R&R management. It was also found that social identification to generation, gender and profession shapes different outcomes of R&R management. In the context of fairness, the result revealed that perceptions of fairness draw from a multidimensional, collective and comparative context. Conditions for fairness were identified as when R&R is unbiased, equally distributed, offers positive and negative feedback, and underpinned by fair supportive management. By contrast, unfairness became apparent during salary reviews due to misaligned expectations of salary entitlement or when the company was perceived to exercise favouritism.