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PODCAST: Give or Get? The Science of Workplace Recognition
May 5, 2026, 12:38
by
Mike Koon
A study by Professor Alex Vandenberg shows that workplace leaderboards shape peer recognition behavior in different ways. In this episode of Research Reverb, he shows that ranking employees by recognition received reduces proactive compliments, while ranking by recognition given increases them compared to having no leaderboard.
It’s not uncommon for firms to foster a culture of peer-to-peer recognition, often going as far as posting a leaderboard to further encourage this behavior. Alex Vandenberg, assistant professor of accounting, is a co-principal investigator on a study that examined how the method and metrics of the leaderboard actually influence behavior. In this episode of Research Reverb, Vandenberg discusses his research, which finds that ranking employees based on the number of times recognition was received decreased the proactive compliments, whereas ranking based on recognition given increased the behavior compared to when there was no leaderboard.
