This manual is intended to assist operational managers in using feedback, goal-setting, and incentive systems. The first section presents background information on feedback, goal-setting, and incentive systems and on measuring productivity. It includes formal definitions of each system, examines the logic of why each system works, compares the…

A new productivity measurement system was developed for five sections in maintenance and supply at an operational Air Force base. The productivity measures derived from the system were used as a basis for monthly feedback to the units for a period of five months. Afterward, goal setting was added to the feedback for five months. Finally,…

This technical paper is one of three produced by a large-scale effort aimed at implementing a new approach to measuring productivity, and using that approach to assess the impact of feedback, goal setting, and incentives on productivity. The productivity measurement system was developed for five units in the maintenance and supply areas at an Air…

The report describes an 18-month research project at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of inceptive motivation techniques in Air Force technical training. The first phase of the research identified incentives. The findings were used in the second phase of the research which made these incentives contingent on…