The is central to the design and administration of organizational reward systems, which are a key factor in attracting and retaining top employees.

The answer is: reinforcement theory

Reinforcement theory is based on the assumption that people would enter a defense mode everytime they feel that their value or principles are being challenged.

In creating a reward system, the organization need to create a system which ensure that the employees would feel valued and none of their principles are being crossed. Otherwise the organization would not obtain any participation from the employees.