Given the complexity of the social, professional, and economic factors that influence motivation, how do institutions make rural job postings more attractive? While many recognize that salary is an important factor, other characteristics of a job—such as better living or working conditions, supportive supervision, opportunities for continuing professional development, career advancement, networking, and even public recognition—can improve a worker’s sense of purpose and productivity. Identifying and offering the right incentive package to workers can result in a win-win situation, with benefits for both the worker and the community served. To address this issue of job attraction and retention in the health sector, CapacityPlus has helped ministries of health and NGOs answer these questions by using a rapid discrete choice experiment, a rigorous survey method that identifies the trade-offs that workers would be willing to make between specific job characteristics. Garnering statistical evidence of what motivates workers provides policy-makers with the needed information to develop more cost-effective job incentive strategies. This article originally appeared in the December 2012 issue of Monthly Developments Magazine (www.monthlydevelopments.org).
The Rapid Retention Survey Toolkit is designed to help countries determine what would motivate health workers to accept and remain in rural posts. It builds on the World Health Organization global policy recommendations for rural retention and is based on the discrete choice experiment (DCE), a powerful research method that identifies the trade-offs professionals are willing to make between specific job characteristics and determines their preferences for various incentive packages, including the probability of accepting a post in a rural facility. Employing a simplified version of the DCE methodology, the toolkit guides HR managers through the survey process to quickly assess health students’ and health workers’ motivational preferences to accept a position and continue working in underserved facilities. The results can be used to create evidence-based incentive packages that are appropriate within a country’s health labor market. 
