...but so do incentives for cost-savings
and productivity gains, says report
FORGET all the theories about self-actualisation, learning and contributing to the greater good - workplace satisfaction comes primarily from the size of the pay slip at the end of the month.
But good news for employers is that workers and management are more than happy to have that pay cheque boosted by their own contributions to cost savings and productivity gains.
A study conducted by Cecil Arnolds of the University of Port Elizabeth Department of Business found that remuneration is one of the key contributors to productivity levels.
This finding has serious implications for South African companies, as pay cheques are a crucial motivating factor at all levels, including top managers, he says. Although profitability remains critical for survival and growth, a more equitable distribution of generated wealth over a wide spectrum of humanity is morally and economically sound and should provide the basis of management thinking in the future, the study suggests. Top management also wants to satisfy higher-order needs like self-actualisation and esteem, while those further down the ladder are motivated by needs such as affiliation - in addition to the pay cheque.
Another factor that needs attention, is gainsharing, which is seen as one of the cornerstones of improved productivity, labour relations, organisational effectiveness and profitability within companies, he says.
Gainsharing differs from profit-sharing in that it embraces the whole firm through a formal system of employee involvement and financial bonuses based on productivity gains.
The study also emphasised the importance of job security for improved productivity levels.
Downsizing and the threat of losing their jobs are the main destroyers of employees' willingness to participate in productivity improvement programmes. Retraining of skills and proper career planning could be a partial solution to the problem of downsizing, says Arnolds. There is also a need for motivational theory and techniques other than those that originated from the West. In a changing South Africa, coupled with labour entrants from the other countries due to globalisation, unique South African theoretical perspectives should become an important field of motivational research, he says.
