Graphic Feedback,Performance Feedback,and Goal Setting Increased Staff Compliance With a Data Collection Task at a Large Residential Facility

Because of budgetary constraints, human service organizations frequently expect consultants to recommend methods to enhance staff performance that require little or no additional funding. The current study utilized a multiple baseline across settings design to evaluate and compare the effects of a single intervention and a packaged intervention including graphic feedback and goal setting on approximately 200 direct care staff as a group, to improve the data collection procedure at a residential treatment facility. The single intervention showed some improvement, whereas the packaged intervention yielded substantial improvements and was maintained.     

The Effects of Two Types of Automated Feedback on the Performance of a Community Mental Health Center Staff

To study the differential effects of two types of performance feedback described as either cueing or evaluative "knowledge of results," two monthly reports embodying one or the other type of feedback were distributed to staff in a community mental health center. Evaluative reports consisted mainly of summary statistics in the form of service delivery indices presented in a manner that allowed each service area to compare its current perform that allowed each service area to compare its current performance with its past performance and with the performancec of all other service areas. Although it was found that the effects varied among and within feedback groups and across the dependent variables, the indices fluctuated primarily as a function of instructional antecedents and evaluative feedback. Aside from the quantitative analyses it was widely observed that the performance feedback system had contributed extensively to orienting the Center toward data-based management.     

Relative Effects of Daily Feedback and Weekly Feedback on Customer Service Behavior at a Gas Station

The relative effects of daily and weekly feedback on customer service behavior at a gas station were assessed using an ABC within-subjects design. Four critical service behaviors were identified and measured daily. After baseline (A), weekly feedback (B) was introduced, and daily feedback (C) was introduced in the next phase. The results indicated that the service behaviors improved when the weekly feedback was introduced and improved further when the daily feedback was introduced.     

The Relative Effects of Global and Specific Feedback on Safety Behaviors

The purposes of this study were to examine the relative effects of global and specific feedback on safety performance and to compare the generalization effects of such feedback on nontarget safety items at a construction site. Participants were 21 construction workers. An ABCB within-group design was adopted and the following conditions were introduced in sequence: baseline (A), global feedback (B), specific feedback (C), and global feedback (B). The results revealed comparable safety performance levels in the global and specific feedback conditions. However, global feedback produced a higher level of generalization effects on nontarget items than specific feedback did.     

The Effects of a Combined Goal Setting,Feedback and Incentive Intervention on Job Performance in a Manufacturing Environment

Abstract

Baked anodes are used in finished aluminum production. Employees of a large multinational aluminum smelter were responsible for the production of more than 3500 baked anodes per week. During a 74 week long baseline (A) condition, production of unusable anodes exceeded 300 per week or 8.6 percent of their nominal 3500 anode production requirement. A problem analysis suggested that this high rate of defective anodes might have been due to weak antecedents, inefficient work procedures and weak performance contingencies. An intervention package that included a combination of goal setting, performance feedback, and tangible rewards was designed to strengthen antecedents and consequences of job performance. A performance feedback system was introduced with and remained constant across the three types of performance contingent rewards and three successively higher goal levels. The three reward and goal combinations were introduced to “strengthen” antecedents and performance contingencies within an A-B1-B2-B3-A with reversal to baseline conditions design. Anode reject rates were lower (better performance) during the three intervention phases compared to both the pre- and post-intervention baseline phase data. A dramatic performance improvement (lowered rate of rejects) was observed during the B3 phase that included the highest performance goal. These data demonstrate that a treatment combination of specific goal setting, feedback and tangible rewards can “strengthen” antecedents and performance contingencies resulting in improved objective performance in a manufacturing environment.     

The Effects of Attendance-Contingent Feedback and Praise on Attendance and Work Efficiency

Absenteeism continues to be a major problem for large segments of business and industry. Operant procedures have been used successfully to correct this problem, but most programs have used various forms of monetary reinforces. Applied research also has yet to examine the relationship between attendance and employee productivity. The present research uses feedback and social reinforcement to improve attendance, and examines attendance levels as they relate to worker efficiency. The findings of this study suggest that although there might be a slight increase in individual efficiency when absenteeism decreases, the relation between attendance and worker efficiency is not simple.     

The Performance-Governance Relationship: The Effects of Cadbury Compliance on UK Quoted Companies

This paper investigates the extent to which recommendations madeby the Cadbury Committee have affected UK company performance.The Committee recommended that certain internal monitoringmechanisms should be adopted by quoted firms because they weremore effective than others as a means of promoting shareholderinterests. The mechanisms analysed are duality, the number ofoutside directors on the board and the presence of a remunerationcommittee. We analyse the relationship between governancestructures and performance for two years, 1992 and 1995. Usingsamples of 200 companies for each of the years, we find that theproportion of firms adopting the governance structuresrecommended by Cadbury has increased. However there is mixedevidence that the structures are associated with betterperformance. Depending on the choice of dependent variable, thepresence of a remuneration committee has a positive effect onperformance and outside director representation has a negativeeffect. However, there is evidence of a simultaneous relationshipbetween outside director representation and performance, a resultconsistent with additional outside directors being appointedafter a period of poor performance. Complete compliance with themodel of governance proposed by the Cadbury Committee does not,however, appear to be associated with performance which is betterthan that achieved by either partial or non compliance.     

The Interaction Effects of Frequency and Specificity of Feedback on Work Performance

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the interaction effect between specificity (specific vs. global) and frequency of feedback (frequent vs. infrequent) on the quality of work performance. Eighty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of the four groups: specific and frequent feedback, global and frequent feedback, specific and infrequent feedback, and global and infrequent feedback. A 2 × 2 factorial design was adopted. Participants were asked to work on a simulated order-fulfilling task and attended 24 sessions. The dependent variable was the error rate of the completed tasks. The results showed that more frequent feedback was more effective and specific feedback was more effective than global feedback in improving the quality of performance. Furthermore, an interactive effect between feedback frequency and specificity was found. Specific feedback was more effective than global feedback when the feedback was infrequent, but global feedback was comparable to specific feedback when it was frequent.     

The Relative Effects of Different Frequencies of Feedback on Work Performance

Abstract

This laboratory simulation examined the relative effects of two frequencies of feedback on work performance under hourly pay and incentive pay. The study had four experimental conditions: feedback delivered after every session under hourly pay and under incentive pay, and feedback delivered after every fourth session under hourly pay and under incentive pay. Thirty-five college students were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Each participant attended 24 thirty-minute sessions. Participants performed a simulated work task on the computer that consisted of computer-related activities such as dragging, clicking, and typing. The dependent variable was the number of correctly completed units of work. An analysis of covariance was conducted to analyze the data using pretest scores as a covariate. Participants who received feedback every session completed significantly more work units than participants who received feedback every fourth session. In addition, an interaction between feedback frequency and pay systems was found: Feedback delivered every session was more effective than feedback delivered every fourth session under the incentive pay system, but not under the hourly pay system. The results suggest that the relative effects of feedback frequency may depend upon the extent to which feedback is correlated with differential consequences for performance.     

The Effects of Temporal Placement of Feedback on Performance With and Without Goals

ABSTRACT

This report from the field evaluated the effects of temporal placement of feedback, and presence or absence of stated goals, on employee skill acquisition in the context of an organization-wide training. Four conditions were examined: feedback before performance with goals, feedback before performance without goals, feedback after performance with goals, and feedback after performance without goals. The results of this study found no statistically significant difference in performance across the four conditions.     

The Effects of Individual Monetary Incentives With and Without Feedback

Abstract

This study examined the effects of an individual monetary incentive system with and without feedback to determine if feedback would supplement the effects of incentives. Participants were seven college students who performed a computerized task called SYNWORK. SYNWORK presented four sub-tasks concurrently: memory, arithmetic, visual monitoring and auditory monitoring. Participants earned points for correct responses. The dependent variable was the number of points earned. An ABAC design was used with A = individual monetary incentives without feedback, B = individual monetary incentives with feedback, and C = hourly pay with feedback. Sessions were 90 minutes, and there were 5 to 10 sessions per phase. The point scores of six of the seven participants increased when feedback was added to the incentive system but stabilized or continued to increase when feedback was removed. The feedback intervention was staggered in time across participants, and performance increased when feedback was added, hence the data suggest that feedback enhanced the effects of the incentives. One possible reason for the reversal failure is that feedback evoked higher levels of performance that were then maintained by the additional incentives. Because performance did not reverse, however, the results must be viewed cautiously.     

The Effects of Task Clarification and Group Graphic Feedback on Early Punch-In Times

Task clarification in the form of workplace policy guidelines coupled with weekly graphic feedback of group punch-in times on the staff clock were presented to waitstaff, cooks, cash register clerks, dishwashers, buffet attendants, and hourly assistant managers in a restaurant sub-franchise. Clocking in early dropped from 130 min during baseline to 62 min per week during intervention. A 1-week return to baseline resulted in 189 min of clocking in early by restaurant personnel. The use of task clarification and group feedback reduced company expenses without reductions in job satisfaction or increased stress.     

Effects of Performance Feedback on Typing Speed and Accuracy

Abstract

Performance feedback is one of the most widely used tools in organizational settings. To date, little research has been conducted focusing on comparisons of the differential effects of the sources, frequency, or media used for feedback on both the quality and quantity of performance. This research investigated the effects of different feedback sources for performance (peer vs. supervisor) on quality and quantity (separate and combined) of typing performance. The source of feedback did not differentially influence performance, although this result may have been due to a failure to establish a clear distinction between the two roles. Feedback, compared to no feedback, increased the targeted typing performance significantly. Feedback for accuracy of performance yielded the largest overall results.     

Immediate Feedback on Accuracy and Performance: The Effects of Wireless Technology on Food Safety Tracking at a Distribution Center

The effects of wireless ring scanners, which provided immediate auditory and visual feedback, were evaluated to increase the performance and accuracy of order selectors at a meat distribution center. The scanners not only increased performance and accuracy compared to paper pick sheets, but were also instrumental in immediate and accurate data capture and tracking in compliance with the Public Health Security Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act (BTA) of 2002. The intervention, which required minimal training, successfully accelerated key operational processes and compliance with food safety mandates. The implications for Organizational Behavior Management practitioners are discussed.     

Feedback in DSS as a Source of Control: Experiments with the Timing of Feedback

Well-designed feedback can improve decision making but to date there has been no comprehensive study of feedback in decision support systems (DSS) that could guide developers in its design. This work examines the opportunities and means to enhance cognitive control in decision making by providing appropriate feedback with DSS. It concentrates on the timing of feedback, which has been shown to affect the use of feedback and also demonstrates the potential advantages of using information technology over and above manual decision environments. Two experiments test the effects of controlling the timing of cognitive feedback on the user's cognitive control. The first tests the effect of timing one source of cognitive feedback, and the second tests the effect of timing two sources of feedback. The findings suggest that the design of feedback should become a routine part of the development of DSS.     

The Effects of Social Comparison and Objective Feedback on Work Performance Across Different Performance Levels

This study investigated the interaction effects of feedback content type (social comparison feedback vs. objective feedback) and two different performance levels (high vs. low) on work performance. One hundred fifty participants were recruited and asked to perform a simulated work task in a preliminary session. Based on their performance, the upper 40% (high performance) and lower 40% (low performance) groups were selected for the main experiment. Participants in each group were randomly assigned to the two different experimental conditions: objective feedback and social comparison feedback. For the participants in the objective feedback condition, information on the number of correctly completed work tasks was provided. For the participants in the social comparison feedback condition, rank information on their performance was provided. The results indicated that social comparison feedback was more effective than objective feedback for the high performers, but was less effective for the low performers.     

The Effects of Task Information and Outcome Feedback on Individuals' Insight into Their Decision Models

When making business decisions, people generally receive some form of guidance. Often, this guidance might be in the form of instructions about which inputs to the decision are most important. Alternatively, it might be outcome feedback concerning the appropriateness of their decisions. When people receive guidance in making difficult judgments, it is important that they do not confuse this guidance with insight into their own decision models. This study examined whether people confuse their actual decision model with task information and outcome feedback. Subjects predicted the likelihood that various hypothetical companies would experience financial distress and then reported the decision models they believed they had used. Their reported models were compared with their actual models as estimated by a regression of the subjects' predictions on the inputs to their decisions. In a 2times2 factorial design, some subjects were provided with task information regarding the relative importance of each input to their decisions while others were not. Some subjects were provided with outcome feedback regarding the quality of their decisions while others were not. The subjects tended to confuse the task information and outcome feedback with their actual decision models. Implications for the results are discussed.     

Examining the Effects of Feedback Accuracy and Timing on Skill Acquisition

ABSTRACT

Feedback involves providing information about past performance and indicating how to improve future performance. Although the literature contains numerous examples of feedback as an effective method for improving performance across a range of organizational settings, much remains unknown about the specifics of how feedback acts to change behavior. This study evaluated the combined effects of feedback accuracy (100%, 80%, 20%) and timing (feedback following each trial or after a block of 25 trials) on skill acquisition in undergraduate students when presented with a computerized match-to-sample task that required participants to learn the names of shapes. Results reveal that feedback accuracy had a significantly greater effect on performance than the timing of the feedback.     

Effects of Grouped and Individual Feedback and Feinforcement on Retail Employee Performances

Using a modified withdrawal design, the effeciveness of grouped feedback, individual feedback, and reinforcement plus individual feedback were assessed on cashier precision, punctuality, and money check-out proficiency of 15 part-time employees in a retail drugstore. Publicly posted performance charts were used during all conditions to inform employees of their grouped or individual daily discrepancies between cash register cumulative totals and the actual amount accounted for, the tardiness figures, and the manner in which all daily money was checked into the safe. The final intervention also included contingent reinforcement in the form of movie tickets, soft drinks, and candy bars for performances at or above criterion levels. The use of individual feedback alone and reinforcement with individual feedback increased efficiency substantially in all three areas; whereas, grouped feedback alone did not effectively increase efficiency.