A study on the effects of some reinforcers to improve performance of employees in a retail industry.

Dilip and team worked with retail employees. They wanted to see if small perks could lift sales and service.

Staff chose what they wanted: extra cash, a paid day off, casual dress, or flex hours. The study tracked work quality for six months.

Every reinforcer worked. Sales rose and errors dropped.

Cheap picks—jeans instead of suits, leaving an hour early—kept the gains for half a year.

Haemmerlie (1983) ran a similar test in a group home. One bonus day off cut staff absences and even lowered resident problem behavior.

Berkovits et al. (2019) later showed a tiny cash bonus slashed teen worker absences by 60%. Money still works, but Dilip proves you don’t need much.

Galuska et al. (2006) seems to clash. They gave staff cash for learning preference assessments, yet skills barely budged. The key difference: Dilip paired money with clear daily goals, while M paid for vague “training.” Instructions plus feedback, not cash alone, drive learning.

You can boost staff performance without a big budget. Ask each employee what perk they want. Try jeans Friday, a late-start Monday, or a $20 gift card. Track one simple metric—items scanned per hour, compliments received, or days on time. Review the numbers weekly and keep the reinforcer in place as long as performance stays up.