The Effect of Social Comparison Feedback and Value Statements in a Clinic
A posted bar chart plus one spoken sentence pushed low-performing techs to match the top cleaner in under a week.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with three clinic techs who rarely finished end-of-shift cleaning.
Each day the supervisor posted a bar chart. It showed every tech’s cleaning count next to the top performer’s count.
The chart stayed on the wall all shift. The supervisor also said, “Here is where you are and here is the top score.”
They counted how many cleaning steps each tech finished before going home.
What they found
All three low performers doubled their cleaning work within one week.
They reached the same level as the top worker and stayed there.
No extra pay, prizes, or long meetings were needed—just the chart and a quick sentence.
How this fits with other research
Merritt et al. (2019) got the same lift in staff tardiness when they added graphic feedback plus tokens. The token piece was extra; this study shows the chart alone is enough for some tasks.
Sleiman et al. (2023) used brief vocal feedback after teach-back and hit a large share fidelity. Here, a graphic plus one sentence did the job, showing pictures can replace longer talk.
Slane et al. (2021) reviewed full BST packages with modeling, rehearsal, and praise. Those work, but they take hours. Social comparison feedback takes minutes and still moves the needle.
Why it matters
You can post a simple bar chart tonight. Pick one task, list top performer numbers, and update daily. Low staff effort often fades when people see peer numbers. This zero-cost tactic keeps high standards without extra training hours or prize budgets. Try it on laundry, data entry, or session prep—then watch the line rise.
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Join Free →Print yesterday’s top cleaner count, post it beside each staff member’s number, and say, “Here’s where we stand.”
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This report from the field assessed the effects of graphic and verbal social comparison feedback on the number of end-of-shift cleaning tasks completed by behavior technicians in an autism clinic. Participants consisted of three individuals identified as exhibiting low performance relative to peers. Prior to the intervention, there was a notable difference between low-performers and high-performers. Following the intervention, the number of tasks increased for all three low-performers, reaching levels that were similar to their high-performing peers. Results suggest that for simple and straightforward tasks, certain applications of social comparison feedback can be useful for increasing performance in low-performers despite initial discrepancies in performance.
Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 2023 · doi:10.1080/01608061.2022.2158989