The Hawthorne Effect
In the training world, the Hawthorne effect is a chameleon. Ask several trainers and you would probably get several definitions, most of them legitimate and all of them true to some aspect of the original experiments by Elton Mayo, in Chicago that produced the term.
It has been described as the rewards you reap when you pay attention to people. The mere act of showing people that you're concerned about them usually spurs them to better job performance.
Thats the Hawthorne Effect.
Source:
http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthorne_01.html
(Jim,
Just had to do that, since I'm guessing I'm not the only one that read your post and said: "What the hell is the Hawthorne Effect!?!"
)