Compensation schemes of motivating & attracting RnD scientists in Singapore.

• Main Authors: Goh, Doris Sock Huang., Hoi, Kin Hoong., Leong, Yew Kow.
• Other Authors: Chung Lai Hong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::General
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51947
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The importance of R&D as an instrument for restructuring Singapore’s economy is gaining recognition by the government. Over the last few years, the government has earnestly encouraged the growth ofR&D activities in all sectors of the economy. Besides support from the government, the very success of our R&D projects may be dependent on our ability to attract, motivate and retain world-class R&D scientists. Thus, the objective of our research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the compensation schemes in the public sector and the determinants of pay effectiveness. This report also attempts to refine these compensation schemes in order to meet the needs and wants of the scientists. In this way, we will be able to attract, motivate and retain R&D scientists, and R&D activities of higher quality can take place. A survey was conducted on a sample of 217 scientists and engineers from the public sector. This study shows that age, years of company and job experience are reliable predictors of pay effectiveness, which is in terms of team and individual performance The findings also indicate that the scientists appear to be quite satisfied with their compensation. This phenomenon may be fallacious due to the inherent human tendency to inflate self-evaluated performance appraisal. On the other hand, the research shows that the wants and needs of the scientists and engineers are not met by the compensation schemes of the public sector. This is justified by the divergence between the perceived importance and the actual receipts of both financial and non-financial incentives. Finally, the report provides a study of the divergence of the effectiveness of the compensation packages offered by management in the public and private sector.