Employee productivity
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This document discusses employee productivity. It defines productivity and ways to increase it, including increasing output with the same resources, reducing resource use while maintaining output, and using more resources only if output increases more. It also discusses factors that affect productivity like job design, motivation, specialization of labor, and learning curves. World-class companies recognize the importance of empowering and training employees to problem solve and work in teams.
Employee productivity
- 1. Humantalents Employee Productivity Jayadeva de Silva.M.Sc, FIPM, FITD Overview Productivity and Human Behavior Designing Workers’ Jobs Empowering Workers Work Methods Analysis Work Measurement Learning Curves Employees’ Health and Safety Wrap-Up: What World-Class Companies Do djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 1
- 2. Humantalents Productivity Productivity means the amount of products or services produced with the resources used Productivity = Quantity of products or services produced Amount of resources used Productivity varies with the amount of production relative to the amount of resources used. Ways to Increase Productivity Increase output using the same or a lesser amount of resource. Reduce amount of resource used while keeping output constant or increasing it. Use more resource as long as output increases at a greater rate. Decrease output as long as resource use decreases at a greater rate. Impact of Price/Cost Change on Productivity When the cost of a resource increases and profit is to remain the same, some combination of the following must occur: output is increased resource usage is decreased price of output is increased Why do We Care About Productivity? Without productivity improvement, businesses do not survive in a global economy. Higher productivity means higher standard of living. The US has traditionally been the leader in productivity gains but other countries are closing the gap. djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 2
- 3. Humantalents Single Factor Approach to Measuring Productivity Capital - Number of products produced Divided by asset value Materials - Number of products produced Divided by dollars spent on materials Direct Labor - Number of products produced Divided by direct labor-hours Overhead - Number of products produced Divided by dollars spent on overhead Single Factor Approach to Measuring Productivity Note that the productivity of a particular resource can be increased simply by replacing some of this resource with a different type of resource. For example: If automation is substituted for direct labor and output volume is unaffected, direct-labor productivity increases (and capital productivity decreases). Our view of productivity must be toward improving the productivity of all the factors of production. Labor Productivity For some firms, production labor (touch labor) represents a very small part of the firm’s total costs For other firms, particularly service firms, direct labor cost remains a significant cost and the need to improve labor productivity is still a serious concern Variables Affecting Labor Productivity Physical work environment Technology, equipment, materials, lighting, layout Product quality Defects, scrap, rework djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 3
- 4. Humantalents Employee job performance Employee ability, motivation Employee Job Performance Motivation is perhaps the most complex variable in the productivity equation. o Only unsatisfied needs are motivators. o Maslow identified five basic needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-fulfillment. o The higher level needs (social, esteem, and self-fulfillment) might hold the most promise for motivating. If productivity is seen as a way to fulfill needs, higher productivity is likely to result. Factors affecting Motivation Formal organization Informal groups Job design Leadership Union Psychological needs Economic conditions Personal situations Specialization of Labor Advantages High production rates Low wage rates Low skill requirements Disadvantages djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 4
- 5. Humantalents High turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, grievances, sickness, and sabotage Low production quality at times Modifying Jobs to Provide Broader Range of Needs Satisfaction Cross-training -- workers perform multiple jobs Job enlargement -- adding similar tasks to worker’s job - horizontal job expansion Job enrichment -- adding more management functions to job - vertical job expansion Team production -- organizing workers into teams; assigning management responsibility to teams Job Design Can we simultaneously give workers the satisfaction they want from their work and still give the organization the productivity and efficiency to survive economically? Guidelines for Designing Jobs and Work Environments o Workers’ Job Tasks o Avoid machine pacing of workers o Design jobs so that workers inspect their own output o Open work areas for communication & visual contact o Combine job planning into workers’ jobs o Automate boring, uncomfortable, or unsafe jobs Immediate Job Setting o Rotate jobs that are repetitive, monotonous, boring o Assign new workers to undesirable jobs, then transfer them to more preferred jobs o Recruit disadvantaged persons for high-turnover jobs o Give rest periods to workers with repetitive jobs o Set higher pay rates for undesirable jobs djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 5
- 6. Humantalents Guidelines for Designing Jobs and Work Environments Larger Work Environment o Select/train supervisors who openly communicate o Develop supervisors who are comfortable with a participative team environment o Remove physical barriers between management and other employees o Create climate that recognizes workers & work teams o Develop formal/informal channels of communication in all directions Empowering Workers o It is the employees who have control of, and know the most about, the details of production. o To get employees to accept this responsibility, managers must first give employees the authority to act. o The process of conveying authority from managers to workers is called worker empowerment. o Workers accepting responsibility for production can lead to what is called internal ownership. Steps of Work Methods Analysis 1. Make an initial investigation of the operation 2. Decide what level of analysis is appropriate 3. Get suggestions from anyone familiar with operation 4. Thoroughly describe and evaluate present method 5. Devise a new proposed method 6. Compare new and present methods 7. Modify the proposed method 8. Perform the proposed method on a trial basis 9. Install the proposed method and train workers 10. Check on new method periodically djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 6
- 7. Humantalents Work Measurement Work measurement refers to the process of estimating the amount of worker time required to produce one unit of output. A goal of work measurement is to develop labor standards that can be used for planning and controlling operations. Labor Standards A labor standard is the number of worker-minutes required to complete an element, operation, or product under ordinary operating conditions. Ordinary operating conditions refer to a hypothetical average situation ….. average or typical worker, material, machinery, environment, etc. Labor standards are used in: Cost estimation Pricing of products and services Incentive pay systems Capacity planning Production scheduling Determination of Labor Standards A labor standard can be determined using one or more of the following approaches: Time study Work sampling Predetermined time standards ----------- Subjective ------------ Historical standards Supervisor estimates djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 7
- 8. Humantalents Time Study Suitable Jobs Job performed by a single worker in a fixed location Job involves repetitive short cycles Job expected to continue unchanged for a long period Job produces large quantities of output Resulting time standard must be very accurate Time Study Analysts use stopwatches to time the operation being performed by workers These observed times are then converted into labor standards The labor standards are expressed in minutes per unit of output for the operation Determining Labor Standards from Time Studies 1. Make sure correct methods are being used to perform the operation being studied. 2. Break the operation down into basic tasks (elements). 3. Determine how many cycles to time. A cycle is one complete set of the elemental tasks. 4. Observe and record the elapsed time for each element for the number of required cycles. 5. For each element, estimate the observed worker’s performance rating. A rating of 1.00 indicates the worker is working at normal speed. 6. Compute the allowance fraction for the operation. The allowance fraction is the fraction of time that workers cannot work through no fault of their own. 7. Compute the mean observed time for each element: djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 8
- 9. Humantalents (Sum of observed element times) (Number of cycles timed) 8. Compute the element normal time for each element: = (Mean observed time) x (Performance rating) 9. Compute the total normal time for the entire operation: = (Sum of element normal times for all elements) 10. Compute the labor standard for the operation: = (Total normal time) / (1 - Allowance fraction) Example: Time Study Approach In a time study of a manufacturing operation, the average time observed to complete a product was 8.6 minutes. The performance rating applied to the observed worker was 0.95 and the allowance during an 8-hour shift was 12.5% or 60 minutes. Compute the labor standard. Observed time = 8.6 minutes Performance rating = 0.95 Allowance fraction = 0.125 Normal time = Observed time x Performance rating = 8.6 x 0.95 = 8.17 minutes Standard Time = Normal time / (1 - Allowance) = 8.17 / (1 - .125) = 8.17 / (0.875) = 9.337 minutes djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 9
- 10. Humantalents Predetermined Time Standards Commonly used for new operations or new products When labor standard must be determined in advance of performing an operation Utilize data that have been historically developed for basic body movements, elements of operations, and entire operations Example Learning Curves At the start of production runs: Workers are unfamiliar with their tasks Time it takes to produce the first few units is high djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 11010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130120 130 2020 8080 4040 100100 6060 Unit Number (Unit Number (nn)) 120120 Labor-Hours forLabor-Hours for nnth Unitth Unit Aircraft AssemblyAircraft Assembly 80% Learning Curve80% Learning Curve 10
- 11. Humantalents As the workers learn their tasks: Their output per day increases up to a point Then their output levels off to a rather constant rate Most aircraft manufacturing tasks experience an 80% learning rate Labor-hours required to assemble an aircraft is reduced by a factor of 0.8 as the production quantity doubles If first aircraft assembled requires 100 labor-hours Second aircraft would require 80 labor-hours Fourth aircraft would require 64 labor-hours Eighth aircraft would require 51.2 labor-hours … and so on By analyzing workers’ learning situations, we are able to estimate: The average number of labor-hours required per unit for N units in a production run The total number of labor-hours required to produce N units in a production run The exact number of labor-hours required to produce the nth unit of a production run Personal Productivity Exercise djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 11
- 12. Humantalents Exercise Productivity at home Good/Service Unit Price Per unit Cost Per month Rankings A Rice Kg B Coconut nuts C Soap Pack D Vegetables Kg E Meat /fish Kg F Toothpaste Kg G Red onions Kg H Bombay Onions Kg I Tea Kg J Pepper Kg K Box of Matches Boxes L Flour Kg djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 12
- 13. Humantalents M Electricity Units N Sandal Sticks Bundles O Coconut oil Bottles P Salt Kg Q R S Employee Health & Safety Several regulations and government agencies monitor and control; - Safety and health in the workplace. (By State... pro-active) Worker’s Compensation - safety and health in the workplace. (By State .... re-active) Environmental protection outside of the workplace. (Pro-active) Safety and Health departments in plant Wrap-Up: World-Class Practice World class companies recognize employees are of strategic and tactical importance Workers must have problem-solving abilities and be trained, cross-trained, educated and empowered so that they can work in teams and respond to customer needs djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 13
- 14. Humantalents Organizational structure must be developed to encourage full use of employees Information is the main media of management djayadeva@gmail.com humantalents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 14