Motivation Strategies and Teachers’ Performance in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Mbale City

Abstract

This study explored the effect of motivation strategies—specifically salary enhancement, promotion, and rewards—on teacher performance in some selected public secondary schools in Mbale City, Uganda. The study utilized a mixed-methods design involving quantitative data collected through standardized questionnaires as well as qualitative findings. Outcomes revealed that while salary enhancement was highly valued by teachers and had a significant impact on motivation and performance, its statistical impact on variation in performance was minimal (1.1%), which must mean that there are other important factors at play. Promotion, as it was statistically significant (25.6% explanation of variance), was marred by perceived injustice, procedural lack of transparency, and weak correlation with professional development. Rewards, and more precisely non-monetary and individual-oriented rewards, were seen to be applied unsystematically with a low mean rating of influence, although they correlated positively with performance by teachers (48.1%). However, multiple regression analysis showed that rewards and promotion had negative correlations with task performance, indicating systemic dissatisfaction and defects in implementation. Strategies for motivation are of utmost significance, yet nonetheless contingent upon a range of matters, including transparency, fairness, punctuality, and integration with broader professional development framework advice. Institutional change in the reward system, frequent salary reviews, condensed promotion requirements, and acceptance of the significance of financial and non-financial motivators will significantly influence the facilitation of an increasingly actively engaged high-performing teaching staff.