The Power of Choice: How Rewards Spark More Creative Ideas at Work

What is it about?

This research looked at how different types of rewards influence employee creativity in workplace suggestion programs. We studied this in a real organization and in a follow-up lab experiment. The key finding is that giving employees a choice of rewards led them to generate more ideas and more creative ideas overall. We compared two kinds of rewards: those that benefit the individual (like personal perks) and those that benefit others (like donations to charity). On average, the type of reward didn’t change creativity. However, employees with a naturally creative personality produced especially creative ideas when the rewards supported charities. We also found that employees’ confidence in their own creativity played a key role in how reward choice and personality influenced their ideas. Overall, this study shows that providing employees with choices about rewards can make a real difference in sparking creativity, which has important implications for how organizations design suggestion programs.

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Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash

Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Encouraging employees to share their ideas can be a powerful engine for organizational innovation. Through suggestion programs, employees can propose improvements to products, services, or policies, which organizations can then refine and put into practice. When implemented, these ideas strengthen an organization’s adaptability and competitiveness. For example, a 2003 study of 47 organizations reported that employee suggestions generated savings of more than $624 million in a single year. Our research further indicates that even small incentives can significantly boost both the number and the quality of ideas employees contribute.