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Work-study Offers All-round Benefits
Page 58
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CONVENTIONAL bonus schemes have the serious drawback that they operate to the advantage of the less conscientious worker, whilst the more conscientious worker tends to be penalized. The amount of time spent in negotiation soon becomes excessive and dissatisfaction rapidly increases. '
These observations were made by Mr. E. Rowland Green, cleansing superintendent, City of Coventry, in a paper Application of Work Study to Incentive Bonus Schemes on Public Cleansing in Coventry," read at the spring meeting of The Institute of Public Cleansing in Coventry last Friday. Mr. Green outlined the application of work-study schemes to gully and cesspool emptying and to mechanical road sweeping.
Work-study officers were appointed by Mr. P. D. Scott, the Organization and Methods officer of the Town Clerk's department (Mr. Scott assisted Mr. Green in the preparation of the paper) in December, 1960, and schemes were evolved with the full co-operation: of the unions and the men. Commenting on the results Mr. Green said: " I have become convinced that work-study techniques are invaluable to management and I am anxious for work study to be applied to refuse collection and other functions under my control."
Proportional Bonuses
According to information given by Mr. Green a bonus of 331 per cent, of the worker's basic rate is paid to those who achieve a "standard performance" and proportional amounts for performances above and below the standard. There is no top limit to bonus earnings unless the operation is one in which the worker can increase the speed of the machine to the detriment of the mechanical components or the quality of the job. A top limit is, therefore, applied in the case of the driver of a mechanical street sweeper, but the
e24 scheme permits the payment of a bonus of 45.5 per cent, of the basic pay.
Advantages of the scheme to the Corporation include the attraction of more suitable labour, the performance of a given amount of work with reduced manpower or of a greater amount of work with the same manpower, less work put out to contract and, lastly, better control of the labour force and more efficient utilization of vehicles. The workers now fully appreciate that the scheme is fundamentally fair both to themselves and the Corporation. An important factor in the ready acceptance of the scheme is the men's realization that a fair bonus can be earned in all conditions.
Recording Job Times Normal stop-watch methods are employed for recording job times, rest periods, delays and so on, and a basic time is evolved for the operation, account . being taken of "repetitive elements" and "occasional elements." In the case of mechanical sweepers the maximum operational speed is specified in the scheme.
Opening the discussion, Mr. Scott said he disliked bonus schemes, but it was impossible to do without them. Work study was not devised to facilitate the application of such schemes and was normally justified on other grounds.
Later in the discussion, Mr. Scott stated that, because the bonus was based on the average temperament of the workers, it therefore covered all temperaments. Although the men were paid a third more for a work increase of the same proportion, the Corporation benefited because of the reduced overheads and simplified control of labour. It was well known that payments to individual teams were frequently not acceptable to the men because they feared division of interests. A work-study scheme overcame this objection.
Mr. C. A. Wood of Newcastle under Lyme agreed with the author that bonus schemes were particularly necessary in areas where there was an acute shortage of labour and observed that bonus payments were appreciated by men who earned extra money in their spare time. They also reduced the need for detailed supervision. Condemning incentives as "a lot of nonsense," Mr. R. G. Totty, Stoke-on-Trent, said that they reacted unfavourably on the health of the men. It was greatly preferable to pay a higher basic wage.
In criticism of work-study consultants, Mr. A. E. Akroyd of Oxford said that a consultant he had employed tackled the job on his own and made many stupid mistakes. A scheme had later been evolved by the cleansing department that produced a saving of £4,000 a year compared with the consultant's original assessment, In reply, Mr. Scott said that the work of a consultant should essentially be a joint operation in conjunction with the cleansing staff.
Fast Work?
After stating that a bonus scheme had encouraged men to work too fast, rather than too hard, so that they could have a longer time at home, Mr. S. Caton of West Bromwich asked Mr. Green what method was used to determine a fair day's work. Replying. Mr. Green claimed that a work-study scheme obviated fast working and said that a standard day's work was based on observations over a long period. Supporting Mr. Green, Mr. Scott pointed out that penalty clauses could be introduced that fostered good work. Bonus schemes should not stipulate ceilings on maximum earnings.
The difficulty of formulating a standard day's work was the Achilles' heel of bonus schemes, said Mr. Scott. Workstudy experts were, however, able to determine average capability within very close limits covering most types of work.