Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment
32 Pages Posted: 4 Apr 2013
There are 4 versions of this paper
Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment
Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment
Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment
Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment
Date Written: March 31, 2013
Abstract
This paper reports the results from a controlled field experiment designed to investigate the causal effect of public recognition on employee performance. We hired more than 300 employees to work on a three-hour data-entry task. In a random sample of work groups, workers unexpectedly received recognition after two hours of work. We find that recognition increases subsequent performance substantially, and particularly so when recognition is exclusively provided to the best performers. Remarkably, workers who did not receive recognition are mainly responsible for this performance increase. This result is consistent with workers having a preference for conformity.
Keywords: employee motivation, recognition, reciprocity, conformity, field experiment
JEL Classification: C930, M520
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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