Q: You've stated in previous columns that you don't believe in piecework payment for each piece of work completed in the upholstery manufacturing process. How, then, do manufacturers motivate their employees to work harder without using piecework?
A: Those of you who know me or have read my articles know of my total disdain for piecework. In brief, people have a God-given body clock. If you know me, mine is set on slow while yours is probably set on fast. In order to sustain an untenable pace, people on piecework take breaks more often, miss work to rest, take short cuts from specs, sustain more injuries, etc. Quality is trashed, people revert to their body's natural pace and then demand more per piece to make up for lost income. When they can no longer sustain the abnormal pace because of age, another skilled asset walks out the door.
The best advice on people management comes from the Bible: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." So what do you want and need from your work effort? First, you probably want a fair, equitable and consistent paycheck so you can plan your life. Second, you want good working conditions and a friendly atmosphere. Third, you need challenging work; and fourth, you want appreciation expressed when you know you have made a great effort.
Our first "Do unto others" is fair and equitable pay. In order to pay equitably, allow people to know where they stand, treat all fairly according to law, and take the monkey ("If I don't get another quarter, I'm walking!") off the back of supervision, we need to develop a fair and equitable pay methodology.
To do this, we develop two spread sheets. A representative of sheet A (see Figure 1) lists on the vertical column the attributes you desire in an employee. The horizontal columns contain measurements with their assigned points. Each six months, the employee is evaluated and the points totaled. The points are then referred to the second spread sheet where the point spread is in the first column and the dollars per hour of pay are in the second column (see Figure 2). This is their rate of pay for the next six months.
If an employee has dropped in points, they have the next six months to make improvements or their pay drops to the point level indicated by their efforts. I use an attribute called "attitude." This carries points and is used to encourage new people or someone who supervision determines is better than the points awarded.
Supervision then defends the points awarded in a review by management prior to the employee evaluation. This will help prevent the "halo" effect. If someone then wants another quarter, they have a path to get it such as learn another job, etc. If you have questions, give me a call.
The object today is to keep good people. In studies done in Mississippi related to manufacturing efficiency factors, the optimum productive temperature was found to be about 76-80 degrees.
This means, for many, an air conditioned work area. The increase in efficiency over a non-air conditioned work area was substantial. Clean restrooms, well-appointed break areas with a clean, bright, safe, well-lit plant are also factors in productivity.
A third way to substantially improve productivity is to ensure all the parts to assemble are present and within one step of the person doing the assembly. I have seen as much as 25 to 30 percent improvement when this was done. No order should ever be on a production schedule unless all parts to complete the product are physically in the plant.
Everyone is measured, but the same measure should not be applied to everyone, although this has been attempted by the misinformed as in "profit sharing." Why? Does production set the CEO's wage, set the product selling price or rent on the building? All impact profits. Consequently, profit sharing for all just becomes another part of an expected wage. Most have no idea what caused the payment.
I like to use teams to break the idea of: "Me, Inc.to heck with the company or my fellow employees." Teams can be measured on quality rejects by the customer, by an internal QC measurement system and performance. Teams can learn to figure better methods to improve their performance and quality if backed by enlightened management.
See my article on Brandrud Furniture ( FDM, March 2007). This gives team members challenge and personal involvement in their work. Each member of the team should also be measured by the team membership to ensure all are pulling their weight. The measurements are posted daily by the team leader.
This leads to the fourth item desired: appreciation. Perhaps a pizza lunch to the best team, T-shirts, monthly Quality/Performance bonus or a "Thank You" from the president recognizes superior achievement. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ideas to recognize teams that have made a special contribution or performance.
Of course, the greatest motivator is time off, but that is not normally best for the company.
If you investigate "world class" manufacturing plants managed by smart, educated, profit- and people-focused professional managers, you will not find piecework. Toyota, Cat and BMW are some examples. Of the plants I am privileged to work with, those eschewing piecework are the most profitable.