One analysis concluded successful organisations ‘help keep their most talented employees from leaving by providing those individuals with high status’. When rewarded with status, workers identify more with their group, are more committed to it and come to view it more positively. Sociologist Professor Cecilia Ridgeway writes that there’s ‘overwhelming evidence’ status hierarchies operate in this way, by awarding esteem and influence ‘in exchange for a recipient’s perceived value for the group effort’. We reward players who help our games win.
