Small signals of appreciation have a decisive influence on the output and quality of the work of employees. A field experiment of KIT economist Petra Nieken and two colleagues revealed that a combination of performance-oriented piece wage and motivating words increases the performance by 20% and reduces the error rate by 40%.

This experiment allowed to observe both individual effects and the interaction of the motivation tools. It was found that a few motivating words resulted in an improvement of performance only, if they were accompanied by a performance-based payment. If an extra performance-based payment was made, but motivating words were lacking, this resulted in decreased performance and more errors. This loss or weakening of intrinsic motivation is comparable to children losing interest in drawing without a reward from outside, if they have repeatedly received money for drawing a picture before.

In the study, combination of an appreciation with an extra salary in the amount of about 10% of total wage resulted in a performance increase by 20% and a parallel reduction of the error rate by 40%. "We hoped to obtain such a result, but we did not expect it to be so clear," the KIT scientist says.

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