- A study by Shing-Yi Wang from Wharton and Jing Cai from the University of Maryland suggests that bottom-up feedback can improve team morale, management, and productivity.
- The study found that such feedback reduced turnover rates and fostered a more encouraging and empathetic work environment.
The research, conducted by Shing-Yi Wang, an associate professor of business economics and public policy at Wharton, and Jing Cai from the University of Maryland, was published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. The study investigated the effectiveness of a bottom-up feedback system at a Chinese car manufacturing company.
Over eight months, workers evaluated their managers on various qualities, including fairness, empathy, adaptability, and openness to suggestions. These evaluations directly influenced the managers’ performance scores, bonuses, pay raises, and promotion opportunities for the first six months. Although the feedback no longer affected these factors in the last two months of the study, the change in management behavior persisted.
The study found that managers in teams that received feedback encouraged their team members more and criticized less, leading to increased worker performance and earnings. As a result, teams that evaluated their managers were 6.2 percentage points less likely to have members quit compared to the control group. This reduction in turnover rates is particularly significant for industries, such as hospitality, that often struggle with high turnover rates.
The research also indicated that the changes in team dynamics and management style were enduring, even influencing the behavior of managers who had not participated in the feedback system. This shift in workplace norms suggests that constant oversight or other costly interventions are unnecessary for better management to take root.
The study concluded that regular, structured feedback from workers can foster a culture of accountability that encourages better management, improves team morale, and increases retention. This outcome provides a practical and affordable method for companies, especially those in industries like hospitality, to improve workplace outcomes.
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