Reward System and Service Delivery in Akwa Ibom State Civil Service

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between two reward-system components (special promotion and staff training) and service delivery in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service. The study was motivated by concerns about the fairness, accessibility and effectiveness of reward practices and their implications for employees’ motivation, competence and performance. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Using stratified and simple random sampling, 388 civil servants drawn from junior, intermediate and senior staff categories were selected. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.87. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test the hypotheses, while multiple regression was used to examine the joint and individual contributions of special promotion and staff training to service delivery. The findings showed a strong positive and statistically significant relationship between special promotion and service delivery (r = 0.752, p = 0.018). Staff training also had a strong positive and statistically significant relationship with service delivery (r = 0.797, p = 0.011). The regression model further showed that special promotion and staff training jointly explained 67.7% of the variation in service delivery (R² = 0.677, p < 0.001). Staff training had the larger standardised regression coefficient (β = 0.498) compared with special promotion (β = 0.341). The study concluded that transparent, merit-based special promotion and sustained, relevant staff training are important components of an effective reward system for improving service delivery. It recommended that the government strengthen merit-based promotion procedures, expand needs-based training opportunities and establish a clearer institutional link between acquired competencies, career progression and service performance.