​ Pizza can increase productivity more than cash bonuses at workplaces

A long weekend has just ended. You have found your colleagues (read employees) to be less activated than other days. It happens after weekends. And you know that’s pretty normal.

But there are some colleagues of yours who seem to have lost their interest in work completely. They are doing everything else; right from playing games on their phones to spending hours eating lunch- essentially everything else, but work. However if you want to retain them, there are several ways to do so. One way is to give them a hike or some cash bonus. Otherwise the easier and definitely the cheaper way out- treat him with pizza. Yes, believe or not, a recent study found that pizza motivates people more than money.

Given the option, workers have been observed to be working harder if you tell them there’s a cheese burst pizza waiting for them after work.
Dan Ariely, author of the upcoming book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations, explains about a study where workers in an Intel semiconductor factory in Israel were offered different awards based on how many computer chips they churned out in a day. As reported by the New York Magazine, one group was told they'd get a cash bonus of 100 Israeli shekels (about $30) if they increase their productivity, another said they'd get congratulations from the boss (a "Well done!" text message) and a third group was offered a coupon for a free pizza.
The experiment lasted two days. By the end of second day, it was seen that the group offered pizza coupons increased their productivity by 6.7%. This was followed by the group of workers who were offered congratulation message from the boss. Unfortunately the group promised cash bonus was the last one to increase productivity.

So it is a proof enough that pizza motivates people more than money. And if you want the maximum productivity from your employees, along with a pizza make sure you congratulate them from time to time.