In the piecework system, laborers who worked fastest and produced the most pieces earned the most (praise, vacation time, money).

The correct answer is: money (though some praise might also be granted). Indeed, the concept is that output matters a great deal, and since employees are paid not by the hour but by each piece they manufacture; they have an incentive to produce as many pieces as possible.

The issue with this system is that it leads to horrendous abuses, where people will work themselves out until total exhaustion: since the amount paid for each piece is too low and a certain output is mandatory, which penalizes older, slower workers. In England and later in North America and the rest of the Industrialized world, this system has become known as the sweatshop system.