From: David Gerard fun@thingy.apana.org.au
I vaguely recall workplace studies where changing *anything* increased productivity - it wasn't the new setting, it was the fact of change.
That would be the "Hawthorne effect:"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
"The Hawthorne effect refers to improvements in productivity or quality which result not so much because of intended changes to working conditions, but mainly because the workers are aware of extra attention being paid to them."
Maybe its not so much that workers (and even volunteers like us) feel better that someone is "paying attention to them", but maybe its because when management is responsive to the concerns of its workforce, the workforce (who are no less intelligent as the management) can put aside any doubts about the purpose of their work and hence the direction of their lives. If they have any option that is.
Japan's legendary auto industry successes in the eighties for example were entirely due to the culture of worker involvement in steering the direction of the company to improve the product, increase productivity and safety, etc.
Stevertigo
--- "Daniel P. B. Smith" wikipedia2006@dpbsmith.com wrote:
From: David Gerard fun@thingy.apana.org.au
I vaguely recall workplace studies where changing
*anything* increased
productivity - it wasn't the new setting, it was
the fact of change.
That would be the "Hawthorne effect:"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
"The Hawthorne effect refers to improvements in productivity or quality which result not so much because of intended changes to working conditions, but mainly because the workers are aware of extra attention being paid to them." _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@Wikipedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
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