NICMAR

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY AND WORK STUDY TECHNIQUES IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS PREPARED BY NAME OF COURSE REGISTRATION NO. Course NO. PAPER TITLE : : : : : Mr. Neil Nicholas Vaz PGPCM Module M13 211-12-11-10221-2132 NCP 31 PRODUCTIVITY AND WORK STUDY TECHNIQUES IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS 10 28.05.13 17

ASSIGNMENT NO. DATE OF SUBMISSION NO OF PAGES

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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 companys schemes.

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SOLUTION: CONCEPT AND MEANING OF MOTIVATION & INCENTIVES On any construction site, the contractors 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 dont 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 contractors 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) (ii) (iii) The human capacity for work The competence of site management 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 Age

Explanation

Comments and suggestion

for improving the capacity. 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. Capacity is related o calorie Establish project canteens to protein content of food provide balanced meals. Affect the rate at which heat can Start work at first light and 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 Resistance to disease is affected Enforce strict site hygiene. by diet, good of hygiene and Arrange talks on hygiene and sanitation is essential to avoid sanitation. occurrence debilitating intestinal parasites. New workers, or workers given Unpracticed workers would new tasks, need time for their initially work. have a lower bodies and muscles to adopt the productivity which would improve as they become acclimatatized to the work and are instructed in the best methods of working.

Nutrition Temperature humidity

Health

Acclimatization ,adaptation, learning

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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 days 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 days 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 days 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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