Research finds pizza is more motivational than cash

Managers around the world have tried many methods to motivate staff and keep up productivity. While the first thought is a monetary incentive, new research shows pizza might be the way to get employees to work harder.

In his new book Payoff: The hidden logic that shapes our motivations, psychologist Dan Ariely outlines findings from an experiment he conducted on factory workers in Israel. Employees were split into four groups and sent messages at the beginning of the week telling them they would win a reward for meeting a certain target.

The first group was told they would receive around £23, the second group would get a voucher for a free pizza, the third would get a text message from their boss thanking them and the fourth weren’t offered any kind of reward.

The group that was promised pizza showed a 6.7% increase in productivity, as opposed to just a 4.9% rise among the ones who earned cash. Surprisingly, the pizza group slipped to second place by the end of the week to be overtaken by the group that received a congratulatory message, who showed the greatest overall increase in productivity.

In a real shock twist, the money group ended the week in fourth place, even behind the control group that received no incentive.

Ariely summarised that the results show staff feel more motivated by simple recognition than real rewards. That’s an important fact to five to a boss who wants to rally the team but doesn’t have a budget for incentives.

Read the original article at bit.ly/2bQoub7