The Role of Social Bonds in Understanding the Pre- and Post-Recognition Effects of Recognition Visibility

Abstract

Distinguishing high-performing employees imposes choices on managers: Is recognition most effectively delivered publicly or privately? If delivered publicly, what setting is best? This paper broadens the accounting literature on the implications of these decisions. Via experiment, I examine how the social bond between recognized employees and those observing the recognition influences the effect of recognition visibility on employee behavior. I find that with weak social bonds, public recognition (versus private) does not result in more beneficial employee behavior. However, when social bonds are strong, employees provide greater pre-recognition effort and respond more positively to public recognition than to private recognition. Overall, my study supports the extensive use of public recognition in practice and helps clarify the collective results from prior accounting studies. My findings also have implications for implementing recognition programs - suggesting managers should consider employee relationships when deciding how and where to recognize their employees.