In Simple Words
Think of a long-distance runner who performs better when a coach stands on the track edge calling out lap times every 200 meters, compared to merely having a digital clock at the stadium finish line. When a branch manager holds mid-week check-ins and personally shows progress tracking reports, a distant deadline is converted into an immediate, top-of-mind priority.
Bank branches in Colombia
- Usual bank practice
- Comparison group
- Madrugador program
- Timing gap index fell 9.58 points
February–April 2009, when managers joined the program. Whole-program effect relative to controls, not a randomized test of supervisor reminders alone; p below 0.05.
See source →Research question
Incentives and weekly targets provided directly to frontline employees often fail to eliminate procrastination when workers lack active operational structure and temporal feedback. Without direct supervisory reinforcement and regular performance updates, employees easily lose focus on early-period deadlines.
Participants
N = 61 bank branches (31 treatment branches, 30 control branches) and 388 loan officers in Colombia (256 loan officers tracked through baseline and endline surveys).
Study Design
Randomized controlled trial (RCT) with field implementation across two consecutive 3-month phases (Phase 1: incentives to loan officers only; Phase 2: incentives extended to branch managers).
Results
Target achievement increased by 70.0 percentage points (coefficient = 0.698, p < 0.10; with controls coefficient = 0.854, p < 0.05) and the workload gap index decreased by 9.58 points (p < 0.05) during Phase 2 when branch managers provided weekly reminders, whereas Phase 1 showed no statistically significant effect (coefficient = -0.081, p > 0.10).
Takeaway
Mandate direct supervisors to conduct mid-week 5-minute performance check-ins using visual progress tracking reports to remind employees of short-term weekly milestones.
Source and citation
See source →Read alongside the research
Plain-English glossary
Original explanations, informed by the references below. Examples are illustrations, not data from the studies above. The research text stays unchanged.
- Baseline
The starting measurements in a study. Researchers use these to compare what participants were like at the start with what happens later.
ExampleBefore a training programme starts, researchers measure workers’ earnings. That first measurement is the baseline.
GET-IT glossary · Baseline characteristics ↗Read more about baseline →- Percentage points
The difference between two percentages.
ExampleA rise from 40% to 50% is 10 percentage points. Relative to the starting value, that is a 25% increase.
Office for National Statistics · Percentages ↗Read more about percentage points →- Randomized controlled trial
A study that uses chance, like drawing lots, to decide who receives each option being compared. Researchers compare the groups’ outcomes to estimate the effect of those options.
ExampleA lottery assigns volunteers to a training programme or a comparison group. Researchers then compare their outcomes.
GET-IT glossary · Randomized study ↗Read more about randomized controlled trial →- Statistically significant
A label used when a result passes a chosen statistical threshold, often p < 0.05. It does not show how large or useful an effect is. A result that is not statistically significant does not prove there is no effect.
ExampleA study reports p = 0.03 against a 0.05 threshold. It passes that test, but the effect could still be too small to matter.
American Statistical Association · Statement on p-values ↗Read more about statistically significant →