The Psychology of Management by L. M. Gilbreth (latest books to read txt) 📖

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