It is the task of every organisation to enhance its organisational performance. One of the best ways to put forth this is to put in place a proper performance based reward system. Performance as outlined by Luccier [1] is based on three factors: That is ability, motivation and resources. This implies that for greater work enhancement, all the aforesaid factors must be high. In other words, organisational rewards must be linked towork perfor- mance to achieve better or improved organizational results provided that the organisation have enough resources and employees are qualified or trained to carry out their jobs. According to Mclagan and Nel as cited in Tsai, Chou & Chen [2] , rewards are a crucial lever to shape employees toward any desired goal of the organisation. Desired goals stated here can be greater returns on investments, profits, improved customer services, gaining greater market shares, competitive advantage and all that contribute to the success of any organisation. Milne as cited in Tsun, Shang and I-Jan [3] and Gross, Elhayney, Friedman and Buetow [4] provided that organisational rewards are some of the mechanisms that can be used to stimulate knowledge sharing, quality of work, motivate to supply efforts (Barth, Bratsberg, Haegeland, Raaum, [5] ) as well as work performance among organisational members. This implies that if work members and work teams are rewarded according to their performance, they will make significant contributions to their organisations. It is thus of fundamental importance for every organi- sation to decide how best to reward its employees and on what basis will they be rewarded. The questions of how, why and when to enhance work performance excellence are tackled in this study.

Manson and Watts [6] provides that rewards matters in organisations. As outlined by (Zhou, Zhang and Sanchez [7] ) and (Canos-Daros [8] ) rewards come in many forms such as base salary increases, performance bonuses, coupons, allowances, acquisitiveness, cash prices, promotions, team incentives, retirement, security benefits, and so on. A performance related reward is defined by Lazear (as cited by Irs and Turk [9] ) as a form of reward whereby employees are compensated according to their performance. On the other hand, Dransfield as cited in Irs and Turk [9] provides that performance related systems use performance and competence as basis to decide the level of increments as well as the rate of progress through a salary band. It is however of significant impor- tance to note the pros and cons that are associated with this reward system as outlined by Irs and Turk [9] .

More as to say, by incorporating Fredrick Herzberg’s theory as embraced by (Crumpton [11] ), all employees need is not only monetary but also acknowledgment, through non-monetary rewards. Workers need to be praised as well as guaranteed an opportunity for advancement. Markova and Ford [12] , provide that incorporating non-monetary rewards in compensation systems can maintain job interest as well as improve the cooperation of workers. Crumpton [11] further pointed out that managers and supervisors may give positive feedback by re- warding good behaviours as well as publicly recognise the deserving employees. These rewards are less expen- sive for organisations rather than monetary rewards.

Work performance is defined by Campbel, (as cited in Koopmans, Bernards, Hilderbrandt, Schaufeli, De Vet and Der Beek [16] ) as “behaviours or actions that are relevant to the goals of the organisation”. On the other hand, Viswesvaran and Ones, (as cited in Koopmans et al., [16] ) referred to work performance as “scalable ac- tions, behaviours and outcomes that employees engage in or bring about that are linked with and contribute to organisational goals”.

Tsun, et al., [3] stresses how organisations have been scrambling for efforts to stimulate, facilitate as well as utilize their knowledge in order to gain competitive advantages. Several studies have reported that one of the major determinants of worker’s rewards is performance (Barkema and Gomez-Meija), as cited in Ou and Wang [17] . On the other hand, Yilmaz and Chatterjee, (as cited in Ou and Wang [17] ) and Silveira, Snider and Bala- krishnan [18] are of the opinion that if rewards are closely tied to key performance measures, employees will perform above minimum expectations to maximise those performance measures and consequently maximise their pay level, Wiley [19] thereby maximizing organisation success.

Based on existing research, it appears that what organisations and managers need to do is to encourage work performance by explicitly measuring and rewarding good performance through performance appraisal process [20] . Performance related rewards needs proper checks and balances. Schimdt, Trittel and Muller [21] referred to performance appraisal as the system used by superiors to assess or evaluate employees work performance. Criteria used are measurable and objectifiable. Prowse and Prowse [22] provide that the key objective for per- formance appraisal is to provide feedback to employees, thereby increasing motivation, clarifying goals as well as achieve long term individual performance, thus enhancing work performance. Human resource departments would however need to put measures in place the following measures as outlined by Lussier [1] :

1. Critical incidence file, which involves a manager keeping a written record of positive and negative perfor- mance of employees.

2. Management by objectives (MBO), whereby managers and employees jointly set objectives for the em- ployees, evaluate results accordingly and reward as per evaluated performance. Managers may be at time be required to write reports on the performance of their employees.

3. Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)—This involves combining the rating scale and the critical in- cidents file. As Lussier put it, this is the more objective as well accurate method of performance appraisal. Rather than having ratings of excellent, good, average and poor, the form has several statements which tackle employee’s performance.

4. Rating scale, this is a checklist on which a manager or superior evaluate the employee’s quality and quantity of work, dependability, judgement, attitude, corporation and initiative.

5. Ranking whereby employees are put in sequence with respect to their performance. They are generally eva- luated from the best to the worst.

6. Another factor as outlined by Schimdt et al., [21] is for both employees or teams and employer to enter into a collective target agreement mainly on performance objectives.

To put the spotlight on the above with Schimdt et al.’s opinion [21] , employees’ performance will display positive effects on motivation when they are involved in the designs of performance related systems or have positive relationship with their superiors. In addition, the human resource Management International Digest [23] , drew an attention on performance appraisals to be based on customer focused employees, upon information de- rived from performance data bases.

Numerous studies found a positive relationship between performance related reward system and work perfor- mance [18] [24] . Westover, Westover and Westover [25] , with reference to the equity model provides that, by nature, if an employee sees that another worker is compensated more or equal reward for doing less work, it will have an impact on his/her level of satisfaction in the workplace. It is therefore an employer’s duty to see to it that there is fairness that will help employees to be treated equitably, as “crabby people make a crabby work- place where else, happy people make a happy workplace.” Moreover, Wiley [19] , suggested that work perfor- mance and an engaged workforce are complementary for maximizing organisation success. Motivated em- ployees tend to recommend their organisation as a good place, given a high level of satisfaction.

Tsai et al., [2] drew an attention on the hiring of better employees to work harder, efficiently and smarter to enhance work performance excellence. Levine as cited in Tsai, Chou and Chen [2] points out that an organisa- tion that pay high wages attract not only qualified but competent and productive candidates that recognise the firm’s ability to achieve its objectives, and thus contribute to the overall performance of the organisation, as spotted by Milkovich and Newman as cited in Tsai et al. be it profitability, increasing efficiency, lower costs by attracting competent applicants, decrease turnover, increase work efforts and reduce shirking.

Moreover, the Human Resource Management International Digest [23] provides that what companies should be doing is to recognise and reward their best employee, as the downturn that is at hand now is that talented em- ployees matter most. A focus is to retain those talented and pivotal employees in order to preserve institutional memory. The Human Resource Management International Digest further suggests that unrewarded employees may seek greener pastures elsewhere when opportunity arises and this will leave organisations with a corporate version of “Alzheimer’s” disease.

Provided the aforementioned review, there is no doubt that performance related reward systems have significant contributions to work performance, and eventually organisational performance. Once there are proper evaluation techniques in place, performance will be fostered. It is thus the duty of every organisation to see to it that it opted for evaluation systems that will yield not only better but accurate and appropriate results. Rewards that are performance based will drive not only employees but also work groups, work teams, departments, committees to work toward achieving organisational goals. This implies that several team members will share information with no hesitation because they all have one goal, which is achieving desired objectives in return of better and im- proved rewards. To put this in a nutshell, performance-related reward systems are the “engine” that drives to excellence in the organisations. To put in context Yilmaz and Chatterjee, as cited in Ou and Wang [17] who spotted that rewards closely tied to key performance measures will force employees to perform above minimum expectations to maximise those performance measures and consequently maximise their pay level, a general conclusion to be drawn here is that rewards are key motivators to maximum performance. Employees will be forced to perform even in uncertain conditions such as inflation, recession, low peak seasons and so on, yielding results that will bail out organisations in those difficult times.

Moreover, the call of performance related rewards helps to solve grievances especially those of Workers’ Union to Management, employer to employee, and vice versa with regard to compensations. With these systems in place, aggrieved parties will always be enabled to always refer to the score card and settle the differences, thus saving company time on negotiations, which in most cases don’t benefit anyone other than unions.

The most fundamental benefit that employees seek in the workplace is satisfaction, while employers seek maxi- mum work performance. However, for complementary results, the enforcement of a proper performance related reward system with proper evaluation measures must be put in place. Moreover, the study provides that there is a positive relationship between performances related rewards and work performance. This is sought through joint reward systems, monetary and non-monetary reward systems. In the light of the above, one can deduce that putting a proper performance related reward system in place is a silver bullet for any organisation to achieve its set goals, objectives, strategies, vision and mission.

All thanks to God, the Almighty who made everything possible throughout the carrying of this study. Sincere gratitude is owed to Dr. Rashad Yazdanifard, a co-author who has been driving the “study bus” to a successful journey. Without him, the study would have never been a success. Maximum thanks are also owed to Olajide- Badmus who acted as a proof reader of this review. Lastly, but yet importantly, the researcher wish to thank all the previous researchers, whose data are referenced in this study. This is because, this study could have not been a complete success without their contributions.