The Effect of Employee Recognition Level and Task Type on Peer Selection Decisions

• In Event: Peer Recognition

Abstract

Firms are increasingly involving employees in the hiring process of future team members. However, research about how existing management control systems affect the effectiveness of peer recruiting decisions is lacking. In this study, we investigate via an experiment whether and how employee recognition level in a team setting (individual recognition vs. team recognition) interacts with the task type (effort-driven task vs. ability-driven task) to affect the quality of peer selection decisions in the employee recruiting process. We predict and find that employees are more likely to select lower-performing candidates under individual recognition than under team recognition, which impedes both employees’ compensation and team performance. We also predict and find that the negative effect of individual recognition, relative to team recognition, on the quality of employee selection decisions is exacerbated when the task is ability-driven than when it is effort-driven. Findings of our study reveal that employee recognition in a team setting might have a broader impact than previously thought since the effect of recognition can carry over to the peer selection decisions and the quality of future employees.

Authors

• Ivo D Tafkov, Georgia State University

• Ke Xu, Siena College

• Flora Hailan Zhou, Bentley University