Emergence of Scam Award Schemes in Ghana’s Tertiary Education Space

As can be seen in the image above, the contestant is soliciting votes in an award scheme called Excellence Awards. The contestant is apparently a student leader at St. Joseph Nursing Training College in Jirapa in the upper west region of Ghana. This is not the first time I have seen such an award scheme. In fact, it is fast becoming a trend. It’s an excellent idea to organize award schemes to encourage people to put in their best in whatever they do. However, I have a problem with the way some of these award schemes are being organized.

Benefits of Reward Schemes

Before I tell you what I think is wrong with these award competitions, let me point out some benefits of award schemes. Indeed, a popular online jobs portal, presents the general significance of workplace rewards systems as follows,

Offering rewards to hard-working employees is one of the most effective ways to boost morale in the workplace. They provide both encouragement and recognition that can keep employees happy and increase workplace engagement.

According to Indeed, rewards can be extrinsic (that is, tangible rewards such as financial bonus, company car, discount scheme, etc) or intrinsic (that is non-tangible rewards such as sense of achievement). Specific benefits of workplace rewards listed by Indeed include:

• They can provide motivation
• They can aid recruitment
• They can reduce employee turnover
• They can increase productivity

In addition to the above, RIPPL adds that workplace reward schemes have the following benefits:

• They help perpetuate a company culture you can be proud of
• They help employees feel engaged and give them a sense of belonging
• They incentivize teamwork and collaboration
• They make your workplace an enjoyable place to be

Most of the benefits of reward schemes outlined above, though speaking to the workplace, are applicable to any situation where people work together, such as educational institutions, which consist of employees, as well as student leaders. In the same way that rewards schemes help motivate employees, they help motivate student leaders to put in their best efforts into their leadership duties. However, the way the contests are conducted make the end results irrelevant for any practical purpose at best, and scammy at worst.

What is my problem with these award schemes?

I have two main problems with these award schemes: (1) Their results do not reflect the suitability of the contestants for the awards; (2) They are scams some people are using to make money for themselves. I have explained below why I hold the above views.

Who can Vote?

From the poster above, it is clear that voting is open to the general public, which means that anybody can vote. Since the voting can be done using a simple mobile phone, there are no physical barriers to prevent anybody from voting. This openness of the voting process defeats the very purpose of the contest. I will not be surprised if there’s no one else in the WhatsApp group in which this appeal for votes was posted who belongs to the institution, apart from the contestant himself. Obviously, beyond the WhatsApp group, anybody anywhere who has access to the voting information can cast a vote. The implication is that people who have no idea about the contestant’s contributions to the institution, or their work, can vote for any reason, e.g. along family lines, friendship lines, etc. These votes will not be based on merit but rather “the more people you know”.

Number of Votes

The fact that one person can cast any number of votes also takes much away from the usefulness of the votes. One contestant can have a hundred people vote for them while another can have only 20 people vote for them while the latter still wins the contest. This would mean that more people approving of a particular contestant may end up being useless in determining the winner. That is just the opposite of what should be happening.

Cost of Voting

This point is directly linked to the previous one. Anybody can cast any number of votes as long as they have the money. Imagine one contestant having 100 people each casting one vote of ghc 1, while another contestant having just one person spend ghc 1000 voting. The latter would defeat the former by 10 times the number of votes, while being approved by only one person as against 100 people for the former. Ultimately, the votes are being sold.

What is in it for the Organizers?

What do the organizers have to gain from these contests? Without doing any research, one can deduce that the organizers are in this for the money. They are simply organizing fundraising in the name of award schemes. In fact, this is a scam. It is a scam because the contest doesn’t have any value for anybody except for a few: For one, the few people who will win a little cash and/or some other low-value rewards, plus a certificate that cannot be used for any practical purpose. For another, the organizers, obviously, who will share the rest of the money raised from the contest. Why else would anyone organize a contest which allows anybody to vote without knowing the contestants’ work, allows any number of votes from one person, with each vote costing money? Yes, the organizers need money to be able to run the award scheme in the first place, but the voting should be limited to only people who have witnessed the contestants’ work and are in a position to judge their suitability for the awards, not any arbitrary person.

Advice to Employers

Awards can put an employment candidate ahead of their colleagues, and employers are aware of this. But with these kinds of awards becoming a trend in Ghana, I would advice employers to scrutinize candidates’ awards, particularly paying attention to how the contest for the award was organized. This will ensure that any awards considered for determining the suitability of a candidate for a job will have merit, and reflect the candidates’ abilities and character.

Advice to Potential Contestants

I would personally not take part in such contests, because, as explained earlier, they lack credibility. If I were an employer who found a candidate to have participated in such a contest, they would be immediately disqualified. This is because the mentality of such contestants is to gain by whatever means, without any ethical considerations. Such candidates are not likely to make good employees. I would therefore advise the public to desist from taking part in such scammy award schemes. They may have future repercussions on your credibility and employability. Be aware that the organizers of these contests are using you to make money. You might say that you lose nothing but can possibly gain something by participating. This is the very reason I wouldn’t hire someone like you. That very reasoning is that of a corrupt, I-don’t-care mind, of a person who would be corrupt if the opportunity knocked.

Advice to Potential Voters

I would advice the public not to vote in such contests, unless you’re involved in the life of the contestants in the setting in which the award scheme is being implemented, and can confidently and honestly attest to the candidate’s suitability for the award. This is for the same reasons of credibility and the fact that this is all a money-making scam that I stated previously. By engaging in such voting, you may be putting your own credibility on line. You may also be directly participating in, or at least fueling, scam.