Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment

Bradler, Christiane; Dur, Robert; Neckermann, Susanne; Non, Arjan

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2228609

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment

Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 2013-038/V

33 Pages Posted: 6 Mar 2013

See all articles by Christiane Bradler

Christiane Bradler

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Robert Dur

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Economics; Tinbergen Institute; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Susanne Neckermann

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Arjan Non

Maastricht University

There are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 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: C93, M52

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Bradler, Christiane and Dur, Robert and Neckermann, Susanne and Non, Arjan, Employee Recognition and Performance: A Field Experiment (March 2013). Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 2013-038/V, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2228609 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2228609