Publicly praising your employees online when they succeed at something can boost overall performance in the office, study finds

You might think that constant notifications from workplace chat apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams are productivity killers. After all, the constant stream of pings, emojis, and @mentions can feel more distracting than helpful. But, as it turns out, these platforms could actually be hiding a powerful productivity tool — praise.

New research has found that giving public praise to employees can boost overall office performance. Public praise has the potential to light a fire under others too, spurring them on to better work. And with remote work the new norm (if some tech companies don't have their way), this boost might be just what the digital doctor ordered.

"One important challenge faced by many companies is how to motivate remote workers and keep them productive," explains Wen Wen, lead author of the study. "Our research gives practical advice on how to construct the right messages regarding peers and how to share them on digital platforms in order to achieve a significant productivity gain."

Wen and her colleagues examined a Chinese tech company where praise was doled out in public messages over a Slack-like app. Every time a sales rep closed a deal, human resources sent a message to the whole team, highlighting the success — with plenty of personal details and emojis to boot.
They found that productivity noticeably spiked when these approving messages were publicly sent, not just for the star salespeople, but for their colleagues too. Whether the message highlighted a worker’s effort or their natural abilities, others got inspired to step up. A simple 10% increase in praise-filled message intensity led employees to make roughly one more call per day.

Praise efforts, not ability

But here’s where things get even more interesting. Wen’s research showed that not all praise is created equal. When co-workers were praised for their effort (think “Wow, look at how hard they hustled to close that deal!”), everyone felt inspired. It didn’t matter if the person receiving the praise was socially close or distant from their colleagues — the impact was the same. Everyone worked a little harder.

On the other hand, when the praise focused on someone’s ability (as in “They’re a sales superstar with unbeatable skills!”), the results were different. Close colleagues still felt inspired, but those further removed from the praised worker didn’t feel the same motivation. Maybe it’s because effort feels achievable, while abilities can seem like an unattainable gift.

In short, people are more likely to push themselves when they see others praised for their hard work rather than innate talent. It’s the “If they can do it, so can I!” mindset in action.

Why this matters more for remote workers

With many teams now scattered across cities (or even continents), public praise becomes even more critical. In the office, employees might get an informal pat on the back or a shoutout during a meeting, but remote workers can easily feel invisible. In fact, studies have shown that it is quite far easier for workers to lose motivation when working from home, when compared to office-goers.
This is where those digital platforms come in. Sharing public praise in all-company channels creates a virtual "hallway high-five" that helps remote workers feel seen and appreciated. And more importantly, it gives them something to strive for.

"For a distributed workforce, managers should probably consider crafting effort-focused messages when sharing peer successes, instead of ability-focused messages,” Wen explains. “People can be influenced by effort-focused messages about peers whom they don't even know."

So the next time someone in your team hits a milestone, don’t just send them a private note. Shout it from the digital rooftops, emoji and all! You’ll be surprised at how much harder the rest of the team will work when they see that recognition is within reach.