Why Me? The Effect of Controls on Prosocial Employees

• In Event: 3.03 Management Control and Its Impact

Abstract

Prosocial motivation describes an individual’s desire to benefit others. Within organizations, employees with high prosocial motivation are likely to contribute more to the organization than employees with low prosocial motivation. To improve the performance of employees exerting low effort, managers may find it necessary to implement controls. However, controls can signal management’s mistrust of all employees. Our findings suggest that prosocial employees have greater negative reactions to controls than employees who are more self-interested. Thus, controls appear to have a disproportionate effect on those employees for whom such controls are less necessary. We find that employees’ prosocial motivation, combined with manager incentives and the explanation given for the control, directly influence perceptions of manager trust and indirectly influence employee effort. Thus, organizations can reduce the negative effect of controls by structuring managers’ incentives and the explanation offered for the control such that they align with employees’ prosocial motivations.

Authors

• Jace Garrett, Clemson University

• Darin Kip Holderness, West Virginia University

• Kari Joseph Olsen, Utah Valley University