“Effective rewards management is critical to organizational performance.” Effective rewards management, as a system, is the most powerful tool available to strengthen organizational values ​​and translate them into employee actions (read behavior). In this case, the term "organization" does not just refer to a business structure, but to any institution (or activity) that involves people working together and requires their voluntary contribution to operate successfully. Whether it is a school, a hospital, an NGO, a government body, a political party or a religious foundation, they all require a matrix through which the performance of individual members can be measured and rewarded. However, each organization may have its own ways and means of achieving this; their practices may differ, but the general principles remain largely the same. The need to formulate an adequate and appropriate system of rewards (as well as punishments) can be determined from the dictates of ancient wisdom when civilizations first faced the problem task of governing a society: “People do not what they are told; they do as they are paid, that is, as they are rewarded or punished. “While it is important to reward individual actions that are desirable and deemed right by an organization, it is also imperative to right what is wrong and provide deterrents to the possible recurrence of such behavior. Responsible management faces the challenge of balancing both the good and evil in human nature. In an ideal world, people should do what is right because it is right. In the real world, people mostly do what is right (or wrong) only when they are paid for it in some form , or way, with which they can relate, middle of paper.... (2006). TOTAL REWARDS: EXCELLENT FIT FOR TECHNOLOGY WORKERS. Research Technology Management, 49(5), 27-35. Esteves, T., & Caetano, A. (2010).Human resource management practices and organizational outcomes. Proceedings of the European Conference on Intellectual Capital, 239-248.Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Donovan, K. (2008). lick. Employee Benefits, 39-40. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Mujtaba, B.G., & Shuaib, S. (2010). An equitable approach to total compensation to pay for performance management. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 11(4), 111-121. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Utilitarianism or Romanticism: The Effect of Rewards on Employee Innovative Behavior Zingheim, P. K., & Schuster, J. R. (2006). Career guidance for Total Rewards professionals. Compensation and Benefits Review, 38(3), 18-23. doi:10.1177/0886368706288206