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Motivation and IncentivesRemove Motivation and Incentives →

New research on motivation and incentives from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including what motivates employees to contribute to organizational betterment, money as a motivator, the key to effective habit formation, and leveraging reputations to encourage prosocial behavior.
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Are Your Employees Passing Up Incentives? Try Promoting the Programs More

by Scott Van Voorhis

Employees who bow out of a company's wellness program or retirement savings plan might not know these perks exist. Leslie John offers advice for motivating workers to participate in incentive programs.

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

by Rachel Kim Raczka

Working late again? Research by Ashley Whillans and colleagues shows how incentive pay encourages workers to think of downtime as wasted time. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

'Repayment-by-Purchase' Helps Consumers to Reduce Credit Card Debt

by Grant E. Donnelly, Cait Lamberton, Stephen Bush, Zoe Chance, and Michael I. Norton

Many consumers fail to pay off credit card debt each month and suffer financial consequences. Repayment-by-purchase, allocating payment toward specific purchases on a credit card bill, helps consumers gain a sense of progress and control over credit card debt.

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

Humans are motivated by four drives: acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams discuss how managers can use all four to keep employees engaged. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

The Stockdale Paradox and survival psychology contain wisdom for how leaders can manage the coronavirus crisis, according to Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Paying It Backward and Forward: Expanding Access to Convalescent Plasma Therapy Through Market Design

by Scott Duke Kominers, Parag A. Pathak, Tayfun Sönmez, and M. Utku Ünver

Without a vaccine for COVID-19, the medical community has turned to a century-old therapy. This paper discusses a market design approach for expanding the collection and distribution of convalescent plasma.

Why Privacy Protection Notices Turn Off Shoppers

by Michael Blanding

It seems counterintuitive, but website privacy protection notices appear to discourage shoppers from buying, according to Leslie John. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

When Your Passion Works Against You

by Dina Gerdeman

Passion is supposed to be the secret sauce that transforms average managers into dynamic leaders. The reality is more complicated, says Jon M. Jachimowicz. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How a New Leader Broke Through a Culture of Accuse, Blame, and Criticize

Re: Amy C. Edmondson

Children’s Hospital & Clinics COO Julie Morath sets out to change the culture by instituting a policy of blameless reporting, which encourages employees to report anything that goes wrong or seems substandard, without fear of reprisal. Professor Amy Edmondson discusses getting an organization into the “High Performance Zone.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

by Dina Gerdeman

In the Harvard Business School course Behavioral Insights, students work in the UK with psychology experts to understand what motivates consumers and workers. What they learn can help businesses of all types, says Michael Luca. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Super stretch goals can produce audacious results, but they are best left to companies agile enough to execute then, readers say. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Forget Cash. Here Are Better Ways to Motivate Employees

by Dina Gerdeman

In today's tight job market, employers must focus on how to attract and keep top talent. Giving away stacks of money may not always be the best incentive, warns Ashley Whillans. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

New Year, New Habits

by Sean Silverthorne

You are resolved to turn over a new leaf in 2019. Maybe become a better boss or crank up the productivity. What are the best ways to put these good intentions into practice? Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information

by Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

Barriers to the diffusion of salary information have implications for a wide range of labor market phenomena. This study of employees of a real organization shows that individuals significantly misinterpret their peers’ salaries, partly due to pervasive preferences for concealing own salary, and a potentially strategic decision of high earners to withhold their personal information.

Make Your Employees Feel Psychologically Safe

by Martha Lagace

To do their best work, people need to feel secure and safe in their workplace. In a new book, Amy C. Edmondson details how companies can develop psychological safety. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Motivate Me, Please

by Sean Silverthorne

People are often coin-operated when it comes to work, but managers can bring out their best performance using motivators other than money. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Knowing What Your Boss Earns Can Make You Work Harder

by Rachel Layne

Learning what your co-worker earns can make you less productive, but knowing your manager's paycheck can motivate you to work harder. Research by Zoë Cullen. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Cut Salaries or Cut People? The Best Way to Survive a Downturn

by Rachel Layne

When times are tight, companies usually respond with employee layoffs. But what if they held on to workers and cut their salaries instead? New research by Christopher Stanton and colleagues has the answer. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Analyzing the Aftermath of a Compensation Reduction

by Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert, and Christopher Stanton

This study of the effects of compensation cuts in a large sales organization provides a unique lens for analyzing the link between compensation schemes, worker performance, and turnover.

The Dark Side of Performance Bonuses

by Sean Silverthorne

To motivate workers, employers often turn to incentives such as money or recognition. What's become clear is that these programs can also result in unintended consequences—like a financial crisis. Open for comment; 0 Comments.