ASSIGNMENT

National Institute of
Construction Management And Research

(NICMAR)

1
Course Number NCP 31
.

2 Productivity and work study-

Course Title
. Techniques in construction Projects

3
Assignment Number 10
.

4
Date of Dispatch 25th May 2014
.

5 Last Date of receipt of Assignment

15th May 2014
. at SODE Office

Submitted By:

Name : JOE P S
Course : PGPCM
Module : M-12
Reg Number : 213-01-11-11240-2142

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ASSIGNMENT BRIEF:
Write an essay on the role of motivation and incentives in productivity

improvement. Elaborate in detail the role of human factor in productivity

improvement. Give the role of incentive schemes with reference to your

company’s schemes.

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SOLUTION:

CONCEPT AND MEANING OF MOTIVATION & INCENTIVES

On any construction site, the contractor’s financial gain is dependent,

amongst other things, on completion of the work in good time and at the

least cost, and the productivity of labour has a direct bearing on this being

achieved. The factors affecting the performance of labour generally fall into

three categories.

(1) The Human capacity for work

(2) The competence of site management

(3) The motivation of the workers

The various measures that may be taken to improve the physical work

capacity or to motivate the workers will not be effective if site management

is substandard. It is essential for the workers to have confidence in their

supervisors. If the workers observe that site management is poor, unfair or

corrupt, their morale, motivation and consequent productivity will be

reduced.

There are two factors in the work situation of individuals that influences

their attitudes and performance and whose intensity and duration affected

their work behavior.

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 (i) Hygiene factors like Job, job security, work rules, promotions,

incentives, leaves, service conditions, employment practices etc.

(ii) Motivating factors like Attitudes, feeling about job, desire to excel,

care and concern about quality etc.

Hygiene factors in the job, when inadequate, had negative effect on

employees’ attitudes. However when present, they had no positive effect.

This meant that the provisions of good pay and employment conditions were

absolutely necessary to attract good people to the company. However, it

would be false to expect that having provided these things, employees would

give their very best efforts. Hygiene factors are something that has to be

provided and without which no person worth his while will join the

organization.

Hygiene factors are necessary to create motivation, but are powerless by

themselves. This means that if Hygiene factors are absent in a job,

employees will not feel motivated. But the best techniques of motivation

will not work if pay and employment conditions are not adequate. If we are

not providing hygiene factors, you don’t expect motivated work force.

However if you provide hygiene factors it can ensure in certain

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circumstances that the job gets done in the quantitative sense. But if you are

looking for quality, desire to excel, concern for economy, care of the

materials and equipments, and then it is required to create a motivating

environment.

MOTIVATION OF WORKERS

On any construction site, the contractor’s financial gain is dependent,

amongst other things, on completion of the work in good time and at the

least cost, and the productivity of labour has a direct bearing on this being

achieved. The factors affecting the performance of labour generally fall into

three categories.

(i) The human capacity for work

(ii) The competence of site management

(iii) The motivation of the workers

Workers are motivated in their work by a variety of methods, all of which

may be present in varying degrees. They are

(a) Fear

(b) Discipline

(c) Job satisfaction

(d) Financial incentives

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 Factor Explanation Comments and suggestion
for improving the capacity.
Age Peak capacity for physical work is In older persons, especially
generally reached between the age in skilled jobs experience
of 20-35. and efficiency compensate
for lower capacity.
Nutrition Capacity is related o calorie Establish project canteens to
protein content of food provide balanced meals.
Temperature Affect the rate at which heat can Start work at first light and
humidity be dissipated from the human avoid working during the
body by radiation , convention and heat of the day.
evaporation of sweat, heat and
humidity increase dangers of heat
stroke and reduce work capacity
Health Resistance to disease is affected Enforce strict site hygiene.
by diet, good hygiene and Arrange talks on hygiene and
sanitation is essential to avoid sanitation.
occurrence of debilitating
intestinal parasites.
Acclimatization New workers, or workers given Unpracticed workers would
,adaptation, new tasks, need time for their initially have a lower
learning bodies and muscles to adopt the productivity which would
work. improve as they become
acclimatatized to the work
and are instructed in the best
methods of working.

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(a) Fear:- Fear includes fear of supervisor and fear of loosing a job and

being out of work and destitute, especially in a country where no form of

social security exists. This is a negative and unsatisfactory form of

incentives.

(b) Discipline: - This is exemplified by punctuality, lack of absenteeism,

good standards of workmanship and the observance of site cleanliness and

hygiene. When discipline is lacking, site morale is generally low and

productivity is unsatisfactory. Various ways of achieving site discipline

include

 Site rules drawn up and explained to all workers by either supervisors

 Supervisors, by personal example, setting a high standard in self

discipline

 Workers engaged to feel that they are working with, rather than under,

the supervisor, but at the same time the supervisor should leave no

doubt in their minds that he is the leader.

 Retribution should be a matter of inevitability rather than severity. No

breach of discipline should go unchecked.

 Developing self-discipline through pride in achievement. Good work

should always be praised.

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  Taking a personal interest in the worker, discussing problems fairly,

never showing favouritism.

 Disciplinary action should be taken as soon after an infringement as

possible.

(‘c) Job satisfaction:- apart from work providing the means of satisfying

the workers basic needs as to food, clothing and shelter, job satisfaction is

obtained when the higher psychological needs of the worker are met. Job

satisfaction is obtained through a sense of achievement as to quality, output

or other contributions, particularly if that achievement as to quality, output

or other contributions, particularly if that achievement is recognised and

acknowledged. Pride in craft and skill and a sense of responsibility are to be

encouraged, and rewarded with opportunities for advancement and

promotion.

Negative aspects, which detract from, job satisfaction and morale, and which

consequently affect productivity, are to be avoided.

(d) Financial incentives:- Incentive schemes of this nature are widely used

in industrialised countries, but are often a source of contention and dispute

between management and workforce. The schemes enable workers to earn

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bonuses over and above the normal rate of pay for achieving a rate of output

at or above a predetermined standard.

ROLE OF HUMAN FACTOR

To carry out any given construction project, an individual mix of resources

including land, buildings, materials, mechanical plant, tools, equipment and

manpower have to be mobilized. It is the task of management to combine

these resources to carry out the project economically and expeditiously. In

large enterprises a management team will share the various specialist

activities, such as site management various levels, materials control, plant

management, financial control and so on, but in a small firm all the

management activities might be carried out by one person. The task of

management is to organise and control all the resources in order to achieve

maximum productivity that is to reduce the work content to as near to basic

as possible and to eliminate ineffective time. One direct means of raising

productivity is to replace manpower by the purchase of modern high

capacity plant or equipment. However, most developing countries are short

of money and have problems of high unemployment, so that to buy such

equipment may be neither possible nor desirable. The cheapest and most

effective way of raising productivity is by better management.

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Workers generally may resent being timed and studied at their work, both

because of the implied criticism and on account of suspicion that some may

lose their jobs and remainder will have to work harder as a result. The

reasons for, and the methods used in the time study should be explained to

supervisor and workers alike. On no account should the work study

specialist resort to secret timing as the practice is invariably found out, and

leads to serious and understandable labour unrest.

In view of the above factors the involvement of human being is the prime

part in increasing the productivity for construction projects either in the form

of labour or in the form of management. Also improvements in the

organisation of work and production methods like specialisation,

rationalisation, labour skills, management techniques, and control systems

are significant to total productivity of a firm.

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VARIOUS TYPES OF INCENTIVE SCHEMES

Various types of incentive schemes are

1. Bonus targets

2. Guaranteed daily wage plus Bonus

3. Task work

(1) Bonus Targets:-

Targets are set before the work starts, usually in the form of

 Piecework targets i.e. payment based on the amount of work done.

 Time targets, i.e. a target time is set for completing a specific task. If

the task is completed in less time, the bonus paid is based on the time

saved.

The basis for setting targets is

 Work measurement:- This is the best method as targets are

more likely to be accurate. Depending on policy, it is usual to

offer a bonus over and above the basic age for a standard

performance of 100.

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  The estimate:- Where a bill of quantities has been prepared, and

the estimated labour cost component of each operation is

known, this can be used as basis for target setting.

 Feed back:- The records of output figures fed back from

previous projects are used as a basis for both estimating and

setting bonus targets.

(2) Guaranteed daily wage plus Bonus:-

Generally in almost all the countries, a minimum daily wage is in force. Also

on construction projects where motivation is low and particularly where

workers are new to the job, the performance of labour can be lower than 50

percent of the standard. A scheme paying a bonus only after a 75

performance is reached may offer no incentive to the work force, who may

remain content to receive the minimum wage for their very low

performance. Therefore it may be of benefit to start bonus payments at lower

level of performance that all workers can reach, at the same time

guaranteeing the basic daily wage.

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(3) Task work:-

This is another form of incentive, though not as effective as financial

incentives. The incentive is to finish a task early and go home, but be paid

for the full day’s work.

INCENTIVE SCHEMES AND MOTIVATION

With the provision of financial incentive scheme, all junior level staff and

workers will be motivated and in the following ways it will be benefited.

 The worker is given an opportunity to earn more than the basic wage

as a reward for higher output.

 The workers output will be higher, so that the job should be completed

in less time, with a more predictable performance and at a lower cost.

 The systems encourage self-discipline, and supervision can

concentrate on quality rather than output.

 The worker himself will try to improve the efficiency of the method.

Where a gang is bonused, it will organise itself for maximum

efficiency, and the better workers will encourage the inexperienced or

les hard working members.

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  The operation of the scheme should keep site management on its toes,

since the workers will protest against any delays or mismanagement

that reduces their opportunity to earn bonuses.

Further more following are the rules to be observed in operating incentive

schemes.

 When it is proposed to introduce a bonus system on a project

site, the project managers should first discus and agree the

principles and operation of the scheme with workers

representative.

 The method of payment and the targets for the work set should

be understood by the workers before starting any particular item

of work.

 Once a particular item of work has started, the bonus rate

should not be changed unless it is found to be too low to offer

any incentive, and then only after investigation and agreement

with the workers. If the rates are found to be too high, they

should not be reduced during the duration of the particular task

for which they were set.

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 The rates should not be high enough for an average worker who

does a good day’s work without overexertion to be able to earn

a reasonable bonus above the ordinary daily rate.

 The workers should not be penalised for matters outside their

control, and where workers are required to work a full normal

day they should never receive less than the daily rate for a

normal day’s work.

 The bonus rate should be offered to individuals or small group

of workers rather than to large groups, so that individual

earnings do not become dependent on the efforts of other

workers.

 Dangerous work should not be offered on a bonus work basis.

 Since bonus schemes can lead to substandard work, penalties

for such work must be enforced. Very high quality work should

not be offered on a bonus work basis if the supervision is

adequate to ensure no loss of quality.

 Any dispute about earnings should always be investigated fairly

and at once.

 Care should be exercised when setting bonus work rates for

raw, unpractised workers.

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CONCLUSION

The ultimate object of an enterprise is to make profits and to satisfy the

consumption needs of the community. If the employees in an organisation

are satisfied, they can deliver more results and ultimately it will be beneficial

to the organisation. Hence for a better productivity, motivating the workers

through incentive system etc will help in delivering maximum output and

can assure timely completion of project and the chances of any additional

cost to the company due to delay in project can be avoided. Work-study is a

series of techniques, which can be used for the systematic examination, and

investigation of every aspect of human work and the factors that affect

efficiency and economy, in order to bring about improvements. The

application of work-study has a tendency to reveal the shortcomings of

managers, supervisors and workers alike. The role of human factor also

plays a vital role in increasing productivity. Small improvements in working

conditions can produce marked increase in productivity.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES

The books referred are

 Course material of productivity and work study techniques in

construction projects

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