📄 Abstract
Insurance companies operate in a highly competitive and regulated environment that demands motivated, productive, and retained employees to sustain organizational performance. Despite the strategic importance of employee reward systems in driving performance, many insurance firms in Kenya continue to experience challenges related to employee motivation, inequitable compensation, and weak non-financial recognition structures. This study examined the influence of employee reward systems on the performance of insurance companies in Nairobi City, Kenya. The study was anchored on the Resource-Based View (RBV), which holds that valuable, rare, and inimitable human resources, attracted and retained through effective reward systems, generate sustainable competitive advantage. A descriptive research design with a correlational approach was adopted, targeting 144 Human Resource Managers, Branch Managers, Departmental Managers, and Operations Managers drawn from 36 insurance companies selected through simple random sampling out of 58 registered insurance companies in Nairobi City. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and the study achieved a response rate of 75.7% (n = 109). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression analysis were employed for data analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 32. The findings revealed that employee reward systems had a positive and statistically significant relationship with the performance of insurance companies in Nairobi City, Kenya (r = 0.563; p = 0.000). Regression analysis further confirmed that employee reward systems have a significant positive influence on organizational performance (β = 0.273). However, descriptive findings indicated that non-financial recognition programs remain minimal, merit-based bonus structures are unclear, and reward systems are perceived as inequitable across departments. The study concluded that employee reward systems significantly enhance organizational performance by strengthening motivation, equity, and retention. The study recommended that management of insurance companies design fair, performance-linked reward structures combining financial and non-financial incentives, establish transparent merit-based bonus frameworks, and standardize reward equity across departments.
🏷️ Keywords
📚 How to Cite:
Emmy Kisa, Prof. Ronald Chepkilot, Dr. Emily Cheposero Tumwet , EMPLOYEE REWARD SYSTEM AND PERFORMANCE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NAIROBI CITY, KENYA , Volume 13 , Issue 9, September 2026, EPRA International Journal of Economics, Business and Management Studies (EBMS) , Pages: 296 - 302 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra29100