Jack of All Trades or Master of One? Feedback and Employee Choice in a Multitask Environment

• In Event: Process Accountability and Task Feedback

Abstract

In a multitask setting, developmental feedback is an important tool used to focus employee future efforts on a specific task. This study explores whether employee responses to developmental feedback in a multitask setting differs when feedback focus on the task which is an employee’s relative strength (strength-congruent) or weakness (weakness-congruent), and whether employee response depends on whether the task is relatively more effort or ability driven. Using an experiment, I find that strength-congruent feedback on a more ability-driven task leads to a longer task choice of duration than when strength-congruent feedback is given on a more effort-driven task, or when weakness-congruent feedback is given. However, within the time spent on the task, I find that feedback elicits greater performance improvement when it is strength-congruent on an ability task, and weakness-congruent on an effort task. This study broadens our understanding of the multitask environment and how employees allocate effort in the presence of communicated firm preferences.

Author

• ALICE MUNCY, Baylor University