Productivity and Employee Commitment: Chapter 8

• Chapter 8 is about improving productivity and employee commitment.

Productivity

• Productivity is output divided by input.

Organizations improve productivity by:

• Doing more with less.
• Maintaining input quantity but increasing output.
• Reducing input while increasing output.
• Productivity techniques require an organizational culture of trust, open communication, teamwork, and effective industrial relations.

Suggestion Schemes

• Suggestion schemes channel workers' ideas to improve work processes.
• Suggestion schemes enhance employee motivation and increase efficiency.

The suggestion scheme process

• Worker writes down the idea.
• Worker submits the idea.
• Idea is evaluated
• Worker is informed of the outcome.
• Rewards are given for useful suggestions.

Quality Control Circles

• A quality control circle is a group of workers who meet regularly to identify, analyze, and solve work-related problems.
• QCCs consist of 5–15 volunteers from the same department/section/unit.
• The members meet regularly to identify, analyze, and create solutions to problems relating to their work.
• The members make an oral presentation of their solution to the management before implementing it.

Total Quality Management

• The objective of Total Quality is to create an organization where everyone is working to make that organization the best in its field.

Techniques Used in TQM

• 5S:
• Seiri (Sort): Remove clutter from the workspace.
• Seiton (Set in order): Organize efficiently and ergonomically.
• Seison (Shine): Clean the entire area, removing dirt.
• Seiketsu (Standardize): Ensure standard ways of working for the first three stages.
• Shitsuke (Sustain): Ensure 5S principles are part of the culture.
• Benchmarking.
• ISO Certification.

Encouraging Employee Commitment

• Committed employees want their organization to succeed and will take the initiative to ensure its success.

To encourage commitment, organizations must do the following

• Recruit the right people.
• Provide appropriate training.
• Pay employees fairly.
• Reward employees who perform well.
• Implement fair systems, including disciplinary systems.
• Employers can take action to discover what employees want, which organizational policies cause problems, and what keeps employees happy.
• Formal opinion or attitude surveys can find out employee's thoughts.

Common survey topics relating to satisfaction

• Their jobs.
• The supervision they receive.
• Understanding of the company vision and mission.
• Terms and service and conditions.
• Physical work environment.
• Discrimination or harassment in the workplace.
• Training and career development opportunities.

Career Management

• Career management can be a series of promotions within the organization.
• Career Management can be a series of jobs, each at a higher level, in a variety of organizations.

Career Management Issues

• Succession planning is a systematic technique for filling top management positions quickly in the event of losing a senior officer.
• Succession planning is a risk management method.
• Glass ceiling
• Management of expatriates.
• Talent management

Communication with Employees

• Communications with employees include town hall meetings, Departmental Level Meetings, emails, and the company handbook.

This lesson covers productivity improvement techniques and employee commitment strategies. It explores suggestion schemes for channeling worker ideas and quality control circles for problem-solving. Topics covered include enhancing motivation, efficiency, and fostering a culture of trust and teamwork.