RE: Incentives for TQM activities

["Vic Forte" <vic@vichara.f9.co.uk>]

You have got to get away completely from the idea of incentives,
and get used to the idea that joy in work is possible. That is, it is
possible and desirable for people to take satisfaction from the work
itself.

In order for this to take place certain conditions need to be in
place. Factors which piss people off have got to be removed. Frederic
Hertzberg is the person to study on this. But from memory I believe
that the biggest "demotivators" he called them "hygiene factors" are
the way you are treated by supervisors, the quality of relationships,
working conditions, hours of work - there is a whole list. Now
manipulative incentive arrangements designed to control peoples
behaviour are some of the factors that end up pissing people off. They
get in the way of the sort of good quality relationships between
people and management that are a necessary condition for good
motivation.

Factors that give rise to good motivation in people are the
opportunity for growth and learning, the ability to exercise power and
control over their work, the ability to be creative and see your
efforts bear fruit.

All of this requires a revolution in the way managers think about how
they "motivate" their work force.

I am also in the food industry and we also use ISO9002 and HACCP.

Why not get your work force involved in flow charting their process?
This will help in both ISO, and HACCP. Flow charts are a great way to
get people to think about issues like hazard analysis. By involving
your work force there is a chance that they will gain some
satisfaction and interest. It will be useful training for all, and
stimulate brains. It is amazing how much mutual respect can be
generated by this process, as management get to see the complexity of
people's work, and gain an appreciation of the staggering degree of
knowledge that and brain power that exists within their work force.
This development of mutual respect is an ideal antidote to the
attitude of "they must be given incentives" which tends to destroy the
relationship between worker and leader. Instead of this, all will get
to understand their processes better, management win by gaining
commitment and interest, and the workers gain by developing new skills
and having their existing skills and knowledge brought to light and
made visible.


Best Wishes,
Vic Forte, vic@vichara.f9.co.uk
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