Honestly that doesn't sound like it was written by a native English speaker. But perhaps it is more British so I've never heard that in North America.
I would think your interpretation is possible, but would have expected something like "rewards hard work" as the phrase, at least here where I am.
The other way I might interpret "promotes hard work" would be the worker is saying the company needs to have policies and incentives, and perhaps supervision, that ensure everyone is working hard and some don't get to be lazy with other's having to pick up the slack.