Meritocratic Promotion Productivity Boost
RCTClinical Trial
Public sector organizations frequently fail to link promotions to objective performance, relying instead on seniority or discretionary systems prone to patronage and favoritism, which demotivates frontline personnel.
Picture this
Imagine a race where runners only sprint at full speed if they know the trophy goes strictly to the fastest runner rather than the referee's friend; establishing objective, performance-based advancement rules motivates workers to increase their daily operational effort in anticipation of future promotion rewards.
What the evidence says
Transitioning to a meritocratic promotion system increased the average number of household visits provided per worker by 22% (+1.497 visits; p < 0.01) and increased average visit length by 15% without compromising service quality or household targeting.
- Who was studied
- N = 2,009 Community Health Workers (CHWs) and 372 Peer Supervisors across 372 Peripheral Health Units in Sierra Leone, evaluated via random household surveys of primary female caregivers.
- How
- Field experiment / Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT), cross-randomizing promotion rules (objective performance-based measuring household visit quantity and length vs. discretionary status quo) over a 10-month evaluation period.
What to do
Transition public sector personnel promotion criteria from discretionary manager nominations to objective, independently verified worker performance metrics.
From the source
"First, we show that a more meritocratic promotion rule increases the number of visits provided by the average worker by 22%."
Promotions_and_Productivity_The_Role_of_Meritocracy_and_Pay_Progression.pdf