The secret of how to manage men: Scientists say setting male employees goals helps them perform better - but the same can't be said for women
- Goals, even without a reward, can help focus men, a study found
- But women perform better in tasks when no specific goals are set
Scientists say they have unlocked the secret to managing unruly men; set them goals.
Researchers in Leicester say giving men specific targets motivates them, even when there is no financial reward.
But, it seems, the same can't be said for women. In a series of tasks, women performed better than men when no specific goals were set.
Researchers say giving men specific targets motivates them, even when there is no financial reward
As part of the Leicester University study, 109 participants completed a simple addition task summing up sets of five two-digit, randomly drawn numbers over five minutes.
Before their assigned tasks, the participants were divided into groups. Two groups were given non-binding goals with a moderate performance benchmark.
Another group was given a more aggressive goal, while a third group was given no goal at all.
Researchers found men within the two goal groups scored more correct answers, attempted more questions and had greater accuracy during the tests.
In the group with no goal, women performed better at the task than men.
Researchers found men within the two goal groups scored more correct answers, attempted more questions and had greater accuracy during the tests
'The focus of this research was to determine how to motivate people,' explained Samuel Smithers, PhD student from the University of Leicester's Department of Economics explained.
'When we are given a goal, we feel a sense of purpose to achieve it; it naturally helps to focus us. The findings demonstrate that setting a goal induces higher effort.
'My research found that women perform better than men in the no goal setting, but men thrive in both of the goal treatments
'[This suggests] men are more responsive to goals than women.'
'I also found a 20 per cent and 35 per cent increase in correct number of additions for the medium and challenging goal groups over the control group.
Smithers said that this is an incredible increase in output without the need for extra monetary incentives.
The increase was due to a rise in both the speed and accuracy of the participants in the goal groups.
Participants were rewarded 25p for every correct answer, but no additional money if they achieved their goal, showing that satisfaction for achieving a goal is motivation enough for greater performance.
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