Publicly praising employees' success online boosts performance in office: Study

A mere 10 percent increase in praise-filled message intensity led workers to make about one extra call per day, the study found. (Representational image)

Praising employees publicly for their good work can boost overall office performance, a new study has found. The public appreciation can also encourage other employees to work better. According to researchers, this boost works even better with remote employees, Business Insider reported.

"One important challenge faced by many companies is how to motivate remote workers and keep them productive," Wen Wen, lead author of the study, told the publication. "Our research gives practical advice on how to construct the right messages regarding peers and how to share them on digital platforms in order to achieve a significant productivity gain."

The researcher and her colleagues examined a Chinese tech company where employees were praised in public messages over an office messaging app, muck like Slack. Every time a sales representative closed a deal, human resources sent a message to the whole team, highlighting the success. The researchers found that productivity spiked not just in the employee, but also in his co-workers when such messages were sent publicly. A mere 10 percent increase in praise-filled message intensity led workers to make about one extra call per day, the study found.

It also showed that the positive reinforcement worked only when employers and recruiters were praising the workers' efforts, not their abilities. According to Wen’s research when colleagues were praised for their effort everyone felt inspired and worked a little harder. But, when the praise focused on someone’s ability, the results were different. Co-workers close to the employee felt inspired, but others didn’t feel the same motivation. The reaction likely was because effort feels achievable, while abilities can seem like an unattainable gift. It’s the “If they can do it, so can I!” mindset in action," the study stated.

Reacting to this, Wen told Business Insider, "For a distributed workforce, managers should probably consider crafting effort-focused messages when sharing peer successes, instead of ability-focused messages... People can be influenced by effort-focused messages about peers whom they don't even know."