工作表现不佳为“老虎伍兹效应”在作怪

A brilliant employee should – in theory – be an inspiration to colleagues.

But rather than raising their game, workmates put in a worse performance when in the presence of a high-flier, experts say.

They have called this phenomenon the Tiger Woods Effect after analysing the performances of golfers from 1999 to 2010 while Woods was far and away the world number one.

When he was at the peak of his powers, other top players shot worse scores in tournaments in which he participated than they did in similar events if he was absent, as if his presence inhibited them.

And because of this, Woods earned around £4million more from these contests than he would have done if his rivals had played their normal game, economists found.

The remarkable effect on golfers could apply just as much in a workplace, according to the researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern University.

In particular, the Tiger factor could affect offices where one worker keeps winning ‘employee of the month’ or regular bonuses for making the most sales.

Instead of trying to compete, other staff – like Tiger’s opponents – simply stop trying as hard because they don’t think they are going to win.

The report, published in the Journal of Political Economy, said: 'His superstar status hobbles the competition.'

Northwestern economist Jennifer Brown said the same could apply in certain, competitive, office environments.

Her study added: 'For example, a company may reward its top monthly salesperson with some extra money or a prize - the idea being that competition increases everybody's effort.

'But what if one salesperson seems to win every month? The others might slack off, knowing they have little chance to take the prize.'

理论上说，一名出色的员工应该能够激励同事。

但专家认为，在有高手在场时，其他员工不仅无法表现得更好，反而会表现更差。

研究人员在分析了1999年到2010年老虎伍兹毫无疑问占据全球第一这段时期的高尔夫球手们的表现之后，把这种现象称之为“老虎伍兹效应”。

老虎伍兹处于巅峰时，其他顶级选手在有他参加的锦标赛中得分低于没有他参加的类似赛事，就好像他的出现妨碍了球手的发挥。

经济学家发现，正因如此，和对手发挥正常时相比，老虎伍兹从比赛中多挣了400万美元。

芝加哥西北大学的研究人员称，这种情况对高尔夫球手的显著影响在工作场所同样适用。

如果某位员工连续获评“本月最佳员工”或者经常因为销售额最高获得奖金，“老虎伍兹效应”对办公室的影响尤其显著。

其它员工，就像老虎伍兹的对手一样，不会奋力竞争，而是不再一如既往地努力，因为他们认为自己不会胜出。

《政治经济学杂志》发布的这份报告称：“老虎伍兹的巨星地位阻碍了竞争。”

西北大学经济学家詹妮弗•布朗称，这种效应同样适用于特定的竞争性办公环境。

她的研究补充道：“例如，公司也许会奖励月度销售冠军奖金或者奖品，认为竞争会激励每位员工。”

“但是如果某位员工每个月都得奖呢？其他人知道自己几乎没机会获奖，就会懈怠下来。”