The Psychology of Management by Lillian Moller Gilbreth
3. assignment to less pleasant or less desirable work.
2660 words | Chapter 254
This assignment is done on an unscientific basis, the man being
simply put at something which he dislikes, with no regard as to
whether his efficiency at that particular work will be high or not.
RESULTS ARE UNFORTUNATE.--The punishment, under Traditional
Management, is usually meted out by the foreman, simply as one of
his many duties. He is apt to be so personally interested, and
perhaps involved, in the case that his punishment will satisfy some
wrong notions, impulse of anger, hate, or envy in him, and will
arouse a feeling of shame or wounded pride, or unappreciation, in
the man to whom punishment is awarded.
DIRECT INCENTIVES NOT SCIENTIFICALLY UTILIZED.--As for what we
have called direct incentive, the love of racing was often used
under Traditional Management through Athletic Contests, the faults
in these being that the men were not properly studied, so that they
could be properly assigned and grouped; care was not always
exercised that hate should not be the result of the contest; the
contest was not always conducted according to the rules of clean
sport; the men slighted quality in hastening the work, and the
results of the athletic contests were not so written down as to be
thereafter utilized. Love of play may have been developed
unconsciously, but was certainly not often studied, Love of personal
recognition was probably often utilized, but in no scientific way.
Neither was there anything in Traditional Management to develop
self-confidence, or to arouse and maintain interest in any set
fashion. Naturally, if the man were in a work which he particularly
liked, which under Traditional Management was a matter of luck, he
would be more or less interested in it, but there was no scientific
way of arousing or holding his interest. Under Traditional
Management, a man might take pride in his work, as did many of the
old bricklayers and masons, who would set themselves apart after
hours if necessary, lock themselves in, and cut bricks for a
complicated arch or fancy pattern, but such pride was in no way
fostered through the efforts of the management. Pugnacity was
aroused, but it might have an evil effect as well as a good, so far
as the management had any control. Ambition, in the same way, might
be stimulated, and might not. There is absolutely nothing under
Traditional Management to prevent a man being ambitious, gratifying
his pride, and gratifying his pugnacity in a right way, and at the
same time being interested in his work, but there was nothing under
Traditional Management which provided for definite and exact methods
for encouraging these good qualities, seeing that they developed in
a proper channel, and scientifically utilizing the outcome again
and again.
PAY FOR PERFORMANCE PROVIDED FOR BY TRANSITORY
MANAGEMENT.--Under Transitory Management, as soon as practicable,
one bonus is paid for doing work according to the method prescribed.
As standardization takes place, the second bonus for completing the
task in the time set can be paid. As each element of Scientific
Management is introduced, incentives become more apparent, more
powerful, and more assured.
DIRECT INCENTIVES MORE SKILLFULLY USED.--With the separating of
output, and recording of output separately, love of personal
recognition grew, self-confidence grew, interest in one's work
grew. The Athletic Contest is so conducted that love of speed, love
of play, and love of competition are encouraged, the worker
constantly feeling that he can indulge in these, as he is assured
of "fair play."
INCENTIVES UNDER SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTIVE.--It is most
important, psychologically and ethically, that it be understood that
Scientific Management is not in any sense a destructive power. That
only is eliminated that is harmful, or wasteful, or futile;
everything that is good is conserved, and is utilized as much as it
has ever been before, often much more than it has ever been
utilized. The constructive force, under Scientific Management, is
one of its great life principles. This is brought out very plainly
in considering incentives under Scientific Management. With the
scientifically determined wage, and the more direct and more sure
plan of promotion, comes no discard of the well-grounded incentives
of older types of management. The value of a fine personality in all
who are to be imitated is not forgotten; the importance of using all
natural stimuli to healthful activity is appreciated. Scientific
Management uses all these, in so far as they can be used to the best
outcome for workers and work, and supplements them by such
scientifically derived additions as could never have been derived
under the older types.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REWARD.--Rewards, under Scientific
Management are--
(a) positive; that is to say, the reward must be a
definite, positive gain to the man, and not simply a
taking away of some thing which may have been a
drawback.
(b) predetermined; that is to say, before the man begins to
work it must be determined exactly what reward he is to
get for doing the work.
(c) personal; that is, individual, a reward for that
particular man for that particular work.
(d) fixed, unchanged. He must get exactly what it has been
determined beforehand that he shall get.
(e) assured; that is to say, there must be provision made
for this reward before the man begins to work, so that
he may be positive that he will get the reward if he
does the work. The record of the organization must be
that rewards have always been paid in the past,
therefore probably will be in the future.
(f) the reward must be prompt; that is to say, as soon as
the work has been done, the man must get the reward.
This promptness applies to the announcement of the
reward; that is to say, the man must know at once that
he has gotten the reward, and also to the receipt of
the reward by the man.
POSITIVE REWARD AROUSES INTEREST AND HOLDS ATTENTION.--The
benefit of the positive reward is that it arouses and holds
attention. A fine example of a reward that is not positive is that
type of "welfare work" which consists of simply providing the worker
with such surroundings as will enable him to work decently and
without actual discomfort. The worker, naturally, feels that such
surroundings are his right, and in no sense a reward and incentive
to added activity. The reward must actually offer to the worker
something which he has a right to expect only if he earns it;
something which will be a positive addition to his life.
PREDETERMINED REWARD CONCENTRATES ATTENTION.--The predetermined
reward allows both manager and man to concentrate their minds upon
the work. There is no shifting of the attention, while the worker
wonders what the reward that he is to receive will be. It is also a
strong factor for industrial peace, and for all the extra activities
which will come when industrial conditions are peaceful.
PERSONAL REWARD CONSERVES INDIVIDUALITY.--The personal reward is
a strong incentive toward initiative, towards the desire to make the
most of one's individuality. It is an aid toward the feeling of
personal recognition. From this personal reward come all the
benefits which have been considered under individuality.[1]
FIXED REWARD ELIMINATES WASTE TIME.--The fact that the reward is
fixed is a great eliminator of waste to the man and to the manager
both. Not only does the man concentrate better under the fixed
reward, but the reward, being fixed, need not be determined anew,
over and over again; that is to say, every time that that kind of
work is done, simultaneous with the arising of the work comes the
reward that is to be paid for it. All the time that would be given
to determining the reward, satisfying the men and arguing the case,
is saved and utilized.
ASSURED REWARD AIDS CONCENTRATION.--The assured reward leads to
concentration,--even perhaps more so than the fact that the reward
is determined. In case the man was not sure that he would get the
reward in the end, he would naturally spend a great deal of time
wondering whether he would or not. Moreover, no immediate good
fortune counts for much as an incentive if there is a prospect of
bad luck following in the immediate future.
NEED FOR PROMPTNESS VARIES.--The need for promptness of the
reward varies. If the reward is to be given to a man of an
elementary type of mind, the reward must be immediately announced
and must be actually given very promptly, as it is impossible for
anyone of such a type of intellect to look forward very far.[2] A
man of a high type of intellectual development is able to wait a
longer time for his reward, and the element of promptness, while
acting somewhat as an incentive, is not so necessary.
Under Scientific Management, with the ordinary type of worker on
manual work, it has been found most satisfactory to pay the reward
every day, or at the end of the week, and to announce the score of
output as often as every hour. This not only satisfies the longing
of the normal mind to know exactly where it stands, but also lends a
fresh impetus to repeat the high record. There is also, through the
prompt reward, the elimination of time wasted in wondering what the
result will be, and in allaying suspense. Suspense is not a stimulus
to great activity, as anyone who has waited for the result of a
doubtful examination can testify, it being almost impossible to
concentrate the mind on any other work until one knows whether the
work which has been done has been completed satisfactorily or not.
PROMPTNESS ALWAYS AN ADDED INCENTIVE.--There are many kinds of
life work and modes of living so terrible as to make one shudder at
the thoughts of the certain sickness, death, or disaster that are
almost absolutely sure to follow such a vocation. Men continue to
work for those wages that lead positively to certain death, because
of the immediateness of the sufficient wages, or reward. This takes
their attention from their ultimate end. Much more money would be
required if payment were postponed, say, five years after the act,
to obtain the services of the air-man, or the worker subject to the
poisoning of some branches of the lead and mercury industries.
If the prompt reward is incentive enough to make men forget
danger and threatened death, how much more efficient is it in
increasing output where there is no such danger.
IMMEDIATE REWARD NOT ALWAYS PREFERABLE.--There are cases where
the prompt reward is not to be preferred, because the delayed reward
will be greater, or will be available to more people Such is the
case with the reward that comes from unrestricted output.
For example,--the immediacy of the temporarily increased reward
caused by restricting output has often led the combinations of
working men to such restriction, with an ultimate loss of reward to
worker, to employer, and to the consumer.
REWARDS POSSIBLE OF ATTAINMENT BY ALL.--Every man working under
Scientific Management has a chance to win a reward. This means not
only that the man has a "square deal," for the man may have a square
deal under Traditional Management in that he may have a fair chance
to try for all existing rewards. There is more than this under
Scientific Management. By the very nature of the plan itself, the
rewards are possible of achievement by all; any one man, by winning,
in no way diminishes the chances of the others.
REWARDS OF MANAGEMENT RESEMBLE REWARDS OF WORKERS.--So far the
emphasis, in the discussion of reward, has been on the reward as
given to the worker, and his feeling toward it. The reward to the
management is just as sure. It lies in the increased output and
therefore the possibility of lower costs and of greater financial
gain. It is as positive; it is as predetermined, because before the
reward to the men is fixed the management realizes what proportion
that reward will bear to the entire undertaking, and exactly what
profits can be obtained. It is a fundamental of Scientific
Management that the management shall be able to prophesy the outputs
ahead. It will certainly be as personal, if the management side is
as thoroughly systematized as is the managed; it will be as fixed
and as assured, and it certainly is as prompt, as the cost records
can be arranged to come to the management every day, if that
is desired.
RESULTS OF SUCH REWARDS.--There are three other advantages to
management which might well be added here. First, that a reward such
as this attracts the best men to the work; second, that the reward,
and the stability of it, indicates the stability of the entire
institution, and thus raises its standing in the eyes of the
community as well as in its own eyes; and third, that it leads the
entire organization, both managed and managing, to look favorably at
all standardization. The standardized reward is sure to be
attractive to all members. As soon as it is realized that the reason
that it is attractive is because it is _standardized_, the entire
subject of standardization rises in the estimation of every one, and
the introduction of standards can be carried on more rapidly, and
with greater success.
REWARDS DIVIDED INTO PROMOTION AND PAY.--Rewards may be divided
into two kinds; first, promotion and, second, pay. Under Scientific
Management promotion is assured for every man and, as has been said,
this promotion does not thereby hold back others from having the
same sort of promotion. There is an ample place, under Scientific
Management, for every man to advance.[3] Not only is the promotion
sure, thus giving the man absolute assurance that he will advance as
his work is satisfactory, but it is also gradual.[4] The promotion
must be by degrees, otherwise the workers may get discouraged, from
finding their promotion has come faster than has their ability to
achieve, and the lack of attention, due to being discouraged, may be
contagious. It is, therefore, of vital importance that the worker be
properly selected, in order that, in his advancement and promotion,
he shall be able to achieve his task after having been put at the
new work. He must be advanced and promoted in a definite line of
gradual development, in accordance with a fully conceived plan. This
should be worked out and set down in writing as a definite plan,
similar to the plan on the instruction card of one of his tasks.
PROMOTION MAY BE TO PLACES WITHIN OR WITHOUT THE BUSINESS.--In
many lines of business, the business itself offers ample opportunity
for promoting all men who can "make good" as rapidly as they can
prepare themselves for positions over others, and for advancement;
but under Scientific Management provision is made even in case the
business does not offer such opportunities.[5] This is done by the
management finding places outside their own organization for the men
who are so trained that they can be advanced.
SUCH PROMOTION ATTRACTS WORKERS.--While at first glance it might
seem a most unfortunate thing for the management to have to let its
men go, and while, as Dr. Taylor says, it is unfortunate for a
business to get the reputation of being nothing but a training
school, on the other hand, it has a very salutary effect upon the
men to know that their employers are so disinterestedly interested
in them that they will provide for their future, even at the risk of
the individual business at which they have started having to lose
their services. This will not only, as Dr. Taylor makes clear,
stimulate many men in the establishment whose men go on to take the
places of those who are promoted, but will also be a great
inducement to other men to come into a place that they feel is
unselfish and generous.
SUBDIVISIONS OF "PAY."--Under "Pay" we have included eight
headings:
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