workplace-efficiency-blog

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The Hawthorne Effect

The last way, and maybe most disliked way (by employees) to increase efficiency is to consistently observe your employees while they are working. The Hawthorne effect was created in 1950 by Henry A. Landsberger who was curious in exploring why and how people work harder and perform better. His theory states and proves that people work harder if they are being watched People like when attention is given to them and when the work they do is going noticed. People also tend to work harder while being observed because they don’t like to look weak, or inferior to others especially to their superiors. People will work harder while others are watching so others think better of them which motivates them to work harder (Redeye, 2015)To increase efficiency using the Hawthorne effect, as a business I would suggest that management work closer with their employees so they feel watched without feeling overwhelmed and hovered. I do not recommend intensely observing every second of an employee’s shift as this would take more time than what would be saved using this method. I suggest providing physical hands on support for you staff so they don’t want to slack off because you will see and because providing feedback and suggestions will help their work development, escalate motivation and increase efficiency.  

Source:Redeye. (2015, April 10). 5 Psychological Theories of Motivation to Increase Productivity. Retrieved from ContactZilla: https://contactzilla.com/blog/5-psychological-theories-motivation-increase-productivity/ U

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Today I found a very useful video that covers  a few of the key components regarding efficiency. The video covers topics such as multi-tasking, delegating tasks, using appropriate communication, planning projects, tine activities and much, much more. Enjoy!

[workplace-efficiency-blog]

Increase Motivation

Everyone knows that motivation will make you work harder and better in any aspect of life whether it is work, family, education or aspirations. When motivation lacks, you tend to get distracted and fall off course, this is true in the workplace as well. The motivation you receive at work can have huge effects on your efficiency and output at work. Motivation can come from your co-workers, managers, boss, superior in the form of a compliment to keep up the good work. Motivation can also be incentives to work harder; this could be contests or prizes or simply a company with a structure to move up within the organization. The Two-factor theory of motivation by Fredrick Hertzberg proves that positive or negative feelings at work can influence the employee’s motivation, thus effecting their efficiency at work (L., 2016). He conducted a survey analyzing the responses of 200 accountants and engineers on their positive and negative thoughts of work. Hertzberg identifies motivator factors and hygiene factors that either lead to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction effecting their motivation at work. He concluded that employees that are more satisfied at work are more motivated at work thus increasing efficiency (L., 2016)I suggest creating motivation tactics like monetary incentives and recognition awards to help motivate your employees and increase the efficiency of your business.

Source:2016). The Impact of Herzberg's Two Factor Theory and Efficiency at Work. European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies , pp. 380-386.

[workplace-efficiency-blog]

Assembly Lines

The first main use of assembly lines was used in the auto factory industry but since then has expanded throughout many businesses throughout the world. Assembly lines consist of various workers organized in lines doing the same repetitive task; each person completes a small step of the production process, and it is passed on to the next person normally by a conveyer belt. Assembly lines greatly reduce wasted time from individuals switching tasks and also the wasted time of moving the product to the next stage of production (Alidiane Xavier, 2016). Results from the analysis and improvement of production efficiency in assembly lines states that the assembly process can improve production by up to 30% (Alidiane Xavier, 2016). The study explains that the best parts of production to introduce assembly lines would be at the shipping and handling stages as these stages would be directly impacted by the elimination of waste. Reducing transition time between tasks is understood as Technical efficiency (Alidiane Xavier, 2016). A worker who completes sanding the pieces of wood used for a shelf, for example, does not then have to put down his sanding utensils and pick up the tools needed to assemble the shelf, as that job goes to a different worker. To further reduce wasted time, this object typically goes on a motorized conveyer belt that will quickly deliver the unfinished product to the next member on the line. Here it is evident that introducing assembly lines to increase technical efficiency will reduce the wasted time between tasks thus increasing the efficiency of the business.     

Source: Alidiane Xavier, M. d. (2016, July). Analysis and improvement of production efficiency in a construction machine assembly lineAnalysis and improvement of production efficiency in a construction machine assembly line. Retrieved from ijmp: http://www.ijmp.jor.br/index.php/ijmp/article/view/453

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Labour Specialization

At the turn of industrialization and capitalism, jobs from craftsmen to the auto industry have be broken down in to smaller tasks to increase efficiency and meet the demand of mass production.  The specialization of labour can increase efficiency in all aspects of business (Sarokin, 2017). Economists typically refer to the specialization of labour as the division of labour, which refers to the breakdown of a larger job in to simpler, discrete tasks, to specific workers with specific skills. Having a worker who is specialized in a specific area of the overall production, and having them focus on this area will increase efficiency in the workplace as the worker is spending more time on what they are best at. That being said, using each and every worker to their full capacity in different areas of work within the same production can drastically increase business efficiency, this is called Allocation efficiency (Sarokin, 2017)When applying Allocation efficiency to your business, start by identifying individual worker’s occupational skills then decide where their skills will be best used and maximized. For example, an employee who is good with numbers would be more efficient, productive and valuable in inventory rather than the marketing department. In order to have a successful business it’s imperative that management maximize each employees labour potential.

Source: Sarokin, D. (2017). How the Specialization of Labor Can Lead to Increased Productivity. Retrieved from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/specialization-labor-can-lead-increased-productivity-12347.html 

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Welcome all to the world of efficiency!

Thanks for stopping by! 

I’m sure you can learn a thing or two on making your life at work easier AND faster. Throughout this blog I will cover a wide variety of topics raging from workplace satisfaction to labor specializations and how they affect your efficiency at work. I will also touch on how to increasing motivation while at work on those dark, brain blocked days that seem to last forever. A little theory never hurts, the Hawthorne effect will wrap up our series of interesting, informative posts. Stay tuned for more updates each day!!