Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance

Paul  Green; Francesca  Gino; Bradley R. Staats

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2017

Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance

by Paul Green, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how connecting to beneficiaries of one’s work increases performance and argue that beneficiaries internal to an organization (i.e., one’s own colleagues) can serve as an important source of motivation, even in jobs that—on the surface—may seem routine and low on potential impact. We suggest that this occurs because words of beneficiaries strengthen one’s sense of belongingness, a key driver of human behavior. Employees, in fact, seek to belong—and seek to enhance their sense of belongingness in work settings. We conducted two studies using both field and laboratory data from different populations to investigate the psychological consequences and performance benefits of connecting to beneficiaries of one’s work. In a longitudinal field experiment of fruit harvesters, we find that though beneficiary contact with the overall customer did not significantly improve productivity, contact with an internal beneficiary that made connectedness salient yielded a persistent increase in productivity relative to a control group. We validate this effect in the laboratory and provide evidence that the effect is mediated by an enhanced sense of belongingness.

Keywords: prosocial motivation; belongingness; motivation; job design; field experiment; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Job Design and Levels;

Language: English

Format: Print

54 pages

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Citation:

Green, Paul, Francesca Gino, and Bradley R. Staats. "Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-073, February 2017.

Article | Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Seeker Beware: The Interpersonal Costs of Ignoring Advice

Hayley Blunden, Jennifer M. Logg, Alison Wood Brooks, Leslie John and Francesca Gino

Prior advice research has focused on why people rely on (or ignore) advice and its impact on judgment accuracy. We expand the consideration of advice-seeking outcomes by investigating the interpersonal consequences of advice seekers’ decisions. Across nine studies, we show that advisors interpersonally penalize seekers who disregard their advice, and that these reactions are especially strong among expert advisors. This penalty also drives advisor reactions to a widely-recommended advice-seeking strategy: soliciting multiple advisors to leverage the wisdom of crowds. Advisors denigrate and distance themselves from seekers who they learn consulted others, an effect mediated by perceptions that their own advice will be disregarded. Underlying these effects is an asymmetry between advisors’ and seekers’ beliefs about the purpose of the advice exchange: whereas advisors believe giving advice is more about narrowing the option set by providing direction, seekers believe soliciting advice is more about widening the option set by gathering information.

Keywords: advice; advice seeking; expertise; impression management; wisdom of crowds; Interpersonal Communication; Relationships; Behavior; Experience and Expertise; Perception; Judgments; Outcome or Result;

Citation:

Blunden, Hayley, Jennifer M. Logg, Alison Wood Brooks, Leslie John, and Francesca Gino. "Seeker Beware: The Interpersonal Costs of Ignoring Advice." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 150 (January 2019): 83–100. View Details

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Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance

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