Show The Human Equation Many workers find the term productivity disturbing There are two reasons for this First to many employees the call for increased productivity means coercion to speed up work harder Second productivity productivity prod prod- might mean the elimination elimination elimina elimina- tion of jobs As to the first fear Henry Ford Fod had an accurate definition of productivity which he called the measure not of how hard we work but of how well we use our intelligence our imagination and our capital An employee can do the most to increase his productivity by thinking carefully about his or her job How can it be done more efficiently Is there wasted motion Is time lost because because be be- cause of uneven supply flow or poor scheduling The worker is in a position to know better than anyone else how his job might be done more efficiently Ingenuity and nd skill are the necessary tools As for the second second concern concern automation which reduce c employment nt per per unit of output can conceivably put people out of work But if t is increased employ employ- ment need not be reduced and may even be expanded This is what can happen if increased productivity leads to lower prices and consequent expanding expand expand- ing demand The National Center for Productivity and the Quality of Working Life points out that historically industries whose productivity has risen more rapidly than the national average average aver aver- age have raised their employment employment employment employ employ- ment by a larger percentage than industry in general Conversely many industries whose productivity productivity productivity prod prod- growth has lagged have actually cut employment The National Center has listed several characteristics which seem to be requisites of a workable productivity program They include Company support for the effort at top management levels Recognition of the key role of the company's employees Establishment of goals and the development of valid measurements measurements mea mea- to reveal whether and to what extent the goals are being met met- Improvement in productivity productivity prod prod- without impairing job security |