Comments on the job : views of employees in six companies / a study by Isabel Blain of data collected by Institute investigators during employee attitude surveys.

  • Blain, Isabel.
Date:
1958
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Comments on the job : views of employees in six companies / a study by Isabel Blain of data collected by Institute investigators during employee attitude surveys. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    “Chargehands should earn more. Should compare more favourably with other indus¬ tries. Rates should be reviewed.” Against these may be set favourable remarks such as: “Pay high. People satisfied, both manage¬ ment and operatives. Reason for people staying . . etc. “Basic pay all right, reasonable, very good. Satisfied.” (The last of these quotations comes from the same company as the first above.) Systems of payment, including remarks about incentives, allowances and differential rates, constituted the greatest body of material in the pay categories. They were mentioned by at least 25 % of operatives in five factories and by 21% in the sixth and by anything from 18% to 43 % in nine of the fourteen executive groups— 22% of all the executive and supervisory staff interviewed. (One company was in process of in¬ troducing a bonus scheme while the survey was in progress; this does not appear to have increased the amount of executive comment, which is low in comparison with other com¬ panies (18%, compared to 16, 25, 29, 40 and 42%); but it may in some degree account for the relatively high number of operatives who commented (52%, as against 57, 40, 29, 29, and 21%).) It was commonly said that bonus was too difficult to earn, while on the other hand some people feared to give maximum output lest the bonus rate would be reduced. “Bonus for time workers should be intro¬ duced (but controlled so as to be less than piece earnings in subsequent dept.). Re¬ duced labour turnover would result.” “Would like individual bonus that permits recognition of harder work.” “One man can pull down bonus because he slacks during day to get overtime later.” “Suggest a fixed bonus with extra for pro¬ duction above a stated amount.” “Bonus scheme should be abandoned— encourages shoddy work and personal jealousies.” “Price for the piece is fixed by the two fastest workers—not fair on other girls— difficult to earn bonus.” “Profit sharing scheme should be introduced —would provide real incentive.” “Profit sharing scheme wanted, similar to other big industries. Prefer it to bonus.” “Co-partnership scheme not often paid out and then quite small.” “Incentive bonus disliked. As allocation of work rises so should incentive but it doesn’t. Easy money when work runs well, hard to make it when work runs badly. For amount of work done, bonus could be better.” “Time study department views any high bonus with suspicion. If we find an easy way of doing something up goes the bonus and down comes Time Study with the clock. Fear of speeding production in case bonus is cut — leads to restrictive practices.” “Used to receive bonus but it stopped—do not know why—operatives still get one.” There were suggestions that holiday pay should be reckoned on average earnings rather than on base rate, and others concerning allowances for poor material, waiting time and overtime. Complaints about compensation for week-end work came with consistency and emphasis from operatives in one of the five companies on a continuous process of manu¬ facture, and from managers in the other. “Waiting time—if due to machine break¬ down or shortage of material—should be paid. We are not paid for any stoppage of less than an hour, but may have two or three waiting periods of 30 minutes in a day.” “Waiting time should be paid at average bonus rate, not day rate.”