Work and Workplace

Kai  Ruggeri; Jana  Berkessel; Jascha  Achterberg; Gerhard M. Prinz; Alessandra  Luna-Navarro; Jon M. Jachimowicz; A.V.  Whillans

Chapter | Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases | 2018

Work and Workplace

by Kai Ruggeri, Jana Berkessel, Jascha Achterberg, Gerhard M. Prinz, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz and A.V. Whillans

Abstract

Work is a major part of many lives. While individual experiences with work will differ—from how long we work to what jobs we have and to what extent we enjoy them—almost everyone is affected by employment, whether they have a job or not. Decades of research in the behavioral sciences have focused specifically on the workplace, dating back to some of the most influential studies in psychology. Given the wealth of accumulated research, there now exists a tremendous opportunity to link theory and findings to successful interventions. This chapter introduces several approaches to workplace interventions and looks at how certain tools such as commitment devices, nudges, personalized incentives, framing, and even the physical environment itself may lead to better outcomes for change from the earliest steps in finding a new job through to latter stages of career, considering not only performance in our jobs but also the health and well-being of employees, employers, and the communities they serve.

Keywords: workplace; behavioral insights; retirement savings; Working Conditions; Employees; Performance; Happiness; Health; Job Search; Change;

Format: Print

Find at Harvard Purchase

Citation:

Ruggeri, Kai, Jana Berkessel, Jascha Achterberg, Gerhard M. Prinz, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz, and A.V. Whillans. "Work and Workplace." Chap. 9 in Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases, edited by Kai Ruggeri, 156–173. New York: Routledge, 2018.

Consumers feel increasingly pressed for time and money. Gifts have the potential to reduce scarcity in recipients’ lives, yet little is known about how recipients perceive gifts given with the intention of saving them time or money. Across 4 studies (N=1,403), we demonstrate that the recipients of gifts intending to save money experience more negative self-conscious emotions and infer lower status position than recipients of gifts intending to save time. Recipients who report experiencing greater financial scarcity in their daily lives (who may benefit most from gifts intending to save them money), experience negative emotions to a greater extent and perceive an even lower status position than recipients who experience relatively little money scarcity. These findings are the first to directly evaluate the implications of receiving gifts seeking to address time and money scarcity and suggest that recipients may benefit more from gifts given with the intention to save time.

Car commuters report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction compared to train commuters—in large part because car commuting can involve driving in traffic and navigating tense road situations. Some employers are trying to get involved and reduce car commuting. But how can organizations encourage their employees to commute differently? Researchers tried to answer this question by designing a series of experiments to “nudge” employees to change how they commute. Overall, they found these light-touch interventions failed to shift people’s commuting behavior.

When it comes to our to-do lists, many of us prioritize checking off tasks that are easiest to complete or are due first, regardless of importance—a phenomenon that scholars describe as the “mere urgency” effect. This tendency becomes stronger the busier we are. But constantly prioritizing urgent tasks means that important tasks that have no urgent deadline (such as updating your resume or doing creative work) get pushed aside for later and later. Some just never get done. When we fail to do what’s important, often what matters most to us, we feel stressed, overwhelmed, and unmotivated—and firms are less productive. Research suggests managers can help employees combat the tendency to put off for tomorrow what isn’t due today: have employees set aside proactive time for work that is important but not urgent.

Faculty & Research

Work and Workplace

Abstract

Citation:

About the Authors

More from these Authors