Long-term impact of employee participation in the development of pay incentive plans: A field experiment revisited

Abstract

Reports a follow-up on a study by E. Lawler and J. Hackman (see record 1970-05759-001 ). In the original study, 3 work groups developed their own incentive plans to reward high attendance. Identical plans were then imposed by company management in 2 other work groups. A significant increase in attendance was found in the groups where the plans were participatively developed. After data had been collected, the incentive plans were discontinued by company management in 2 of the 3 participative groups. In the present study, attendance data covering a 12-wk period 1 yr. later revealed that attendance had dropped below pretreatment levels in those 2 groups, but had continued high in the 3rd participative group. A slight increase in attendance was found in those groups where incentive plans had been imposed by company management. Results suggest that long-lasting changes can be effectively introduced into an organization only when all levels involved accept them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)