It turns out a big cheesy slice of the good stuff isn’t just the perfect post-work treat – it can also boost your output at the office too.

Sure, it’s not the healthiest thing you could eat, but according to a study led by Dan Ariely in upcoming book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations, it can motivate you to work harder.

For the experiment, Israeli factory workers were give three different incentives for reaching a target work goal: a voucher for free pizza, a cash bonus, and a compliment from their boss. The control group wasn’t given any potential rewards.

The result? Pizza came out on top as the most effective motivator.

The workers who were promised pizza for meeting their quota out-worked the control group by 6.7 percent.

Surprisingly enough, the cash bonus was the least effective incentive – it led to an increase of only 4.9 per cent. The compliment group landed just behind the pizza voucher cohort at 6.6 per cent.

This is not the first study to show that free food = harder-working employees. A 2013 survey conducted by online delivery and takeout service Seamless found that a third of respondents would attend more optional meetings if they were given complimentary noms.

The majority of the 1200 employees surveyed also felt that having free food around the office “would make them feel more valued and appreciated,” and would even influence their decision to accept a job offer.

Of course, the survey was conducted by a food service provider so you should take their findings with a grain of salt.

It goes to show that companies don’t need to have fancy nap pods or other millennial-friendly perks to motivate their workforce.

Just give ’em some cheesy carbs (or a healthier alternative) and they’ll be happy as can be. Again, we call for the installation of pizza ATMs in offices across Canada ASAP.

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