Will That Be Cash, Pizza, Praise, Or Nothing?

Decades ago, Dale Carnegie expounded on the power of praise in his classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People.

In it, he wrote in part that, “…there is one longing – almost as deep, almost as imperious, as the desire for food or sleep – which is seldom gratified. It is what Dewey calls “the desire to be great.” It is what Dewy calls the “desire to be important.” Lincoln once began a letter saying: “Everybody likes a compliment.” William James said: The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” He didn’t speak, mind you, of the “wish” or the “desire” or the “longing” to be appreciated. He said the “craving” to be appreciated. Here is a gnawing and unfaltering human hunger, and the rare individual who honestly satisfies this heart hunger will hold people in the palm of his or her hand and “even the undertaker will be sorry when he dies.”

Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, recounted a week-long experiment in his upcoming book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations, in which employees at a semiconductor factory were placed in one of four groups to test a theory.

They were promised one of three things if they were able to assemble a certain number of chips per day:
• A cash bonus of $30
• A voucher for a free pizza
• A complimentary text message of “Well done!” from the boss
• A fourth – the Control Group – received nothing.

Pizza was the top motivator on Day One, and productivity increased 6.7% over the Control Group. That was surprising considering that the Cash Group only saw a 4.9% increase, and actually experienced in a 6.5% decline in productivity for the week overall.

The biggest motivator of the week was a complimentary text message of “Well done!” from the boss.

When you commend and praise people, you satisfy an essential and basic human craving which provides motivation as a natural byproduct.

Adapted from: Study Says Pizza Works Better Than Cash to Motivate Employees. But One Thing Works Even Better, by Justin Bariso
Twitter: @JustinJBariso
https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/study-says-pizza-works-better-than-cash-to-motivate-employees-but-one-thing-work.html