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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
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r -
6 COMPENSATION AD APP~.IS~
THE DEMANDS OF THE NEW JOBS
As the previous chapter indicated, managers are
experimenting with ways to design jobs for advanced
manufacturing technology. They are grouping new and
familiar tasks into fewer job classifications and
encouraging workers to broaden the scope of their jobs
or to become multiskilled. They are creating teams and
considering the team, rather than the individual job, to
be the primary unit of work. As members of such teams,
workers are asked to coordinate their activities with
those of other team members, to make decisions previously
made by managers, to solve problems, and, in varying
degrees, to manage themselves.
In most cases, the job designs are carefully aligned
with the characteristics of the new technology: in some
cases, the introduction of new technology in taken as an
opportunity to try innovative personnel practices that
are in keeping with the company's present or emerging
culture. No matter what the catalyst, these new job
designs and accompanying practices demand more of workers
than did their previous jobs. As a result, managers need
to reconsider the appraisal and reward of workers'
performance.
INTRINSIC REWARDS
Some aspects of the new jobs are intrinsically
rewarding to cast workers. Broadened and multiskilled
jobs offer more variety and are more interesting and
challenging. The increased training and education
required by such jobs will also be viewed favorably.
46
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47
The majority of workers are likely to think themselves on
the leading edge of work, welcome the opportunity to
perform such jobs, report greater job satisfaction, and
be optimistic about their future employment prospects. A
company that is willing to provide such opportunities in
likely to have managers that respect those who work for
them and thus is likely to be viewed by workers an a good
employer.
The ef feats of the new technology on working condi-
tions are mixed. The jobs are almost always cleaner and
quieter, but often they increase the amount of shift work
for operators, supervisors, and the professionals
supporting the technology.
COMPENSATION
At the majority of the sites visited, the average pay
in the plant increased as a result of introducing AMT.
The new technology eliminated many of the lowest paying
jobs, thus raising the average pay for the plant an a
whole. Some of the workers whose job. were eliminated
were retrained for jobs that paid more than the ones they
left.
The trend toward higher compensation is not without
exception, however. Some jobs, if they had been assigned
exclusively to one worker, would have paid Begs. Workers
were able to keep the same pay or increase it by agreeing
to rotate among several jobs and become multiskilled.
Although overtime may be higher during Tart-up (as it
was at plants J and 0), it is generally reduced when the
technology is debugged and achieves steady state. At
that point, the plants are running near full capacity
(24 hours, 7 days a week) so that work cannot be
expanded, and preventive maintenance is practiced more
conscientiously so that maintenance work is limited
primarily to the day shift. When a higher level of
compensation is combined with lower overtime, the effect
on total take-home pay is not clear.
Three of the plants visited (C, M, and N) had no time
clocks to record employees' arrival and departure. Plant
M continued to pay workers by the hour, plant C paid a
salary biweekly, and plant N paid workers a weekly salary.
Three other plants (D, J. and P) also put production
worker- on weekly salary, which may have contributed to a
reduction in overtime. More companies may experiment
with thin practice as labor increasingly becomes a fixed
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48
rather than a variable cost of production. The number of
workers required to operate a highly automated plant will
be stable, whether or not it is running at full capacity.
Isolated instances of limited reductions in compensa-
tion were observed.
· At an automobile company's new components plant
(M), workers selected for the new jobs were initially
paid less for 6 months while they received full-time
training.
0 At two other companies (plants F and G), a few jobs
were ~red-circled. no that those who currently held them
received the same pay. Any future occupants of these
jobs, however, will be paid less.
LINKING PAY AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Many of the companies visited were experimenting with
alternative ways to recognize individuals for their
efforts and contributions to the production process. m e
degree and variety of experimentation suggest that no
consensus has emerged on the best ways to evaluate and
reward workers for their contributions with AMT.
When every worker in a job classification performed
the same set of activities, then it wan feasible to place
a consistent value on their contributions. As job
classifications decrease in number and broaden in scope
and skills, however, no two workers holding the same
classification are necessarily performing the name
activities. As ~ result, job classifications offer
diminishing guidance for valuing a specific worker's
contribution to the production process.
The number of work modules a worker can perform
appears to be replacing job classifications as an
objective basis for pay differentials.
At an engine
_, _
company (plant C), workers decide, with skilled help,
what modules they will learn, and they develop a plan for
obtaining the training and experience needed to master
those Modules. Their compensation is based on the number
of Modules learned.
More judgment ts required, however, to determine a
worker's mastery of any particular module, vigilance in
detecting machine malfunctions, or performance as a
problem solver or team member. These are difficult
judgments for a supervisor or a worker's fellow team
members to make.
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49
Objective measures of performance, such as yield or
down-time, are difficult to apply to any one worker
because of the interdependence among workers, super-
visors, and maintenance and other support personnel in
highly integrated technologies. Measurements can more
readily be made on a team basis, acknowledging team
members' collective responsibility for common machines,
products, or territory.
The increasing use of shop-floor sabeduling systems
that require workers to record when they start and finish
jobs (e.g., by passing a wand over bar codes) may permit
management to continue keeping track of workers' time and
the jobs they perform. Even this technological innova-
tion, however, may not permit such tracking of workers on
flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), which may do a
large number of jobs at the same time with the workers
less likely to be performing hands-on operations on the
parts.
PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCEDURES
Performance reviews in the ANT systems studied were
of two types: the traditional one-on-one supervisor and
employee review, and the peer or team review of the
individual. The choice of review type is determined by
how well developed the team is and the extent to which it
is encouraged to be ~elf-managing.
Both type. of reviews assess individual performance in
new ways. The highly integrated nature of the work in
ANT systems requires that the review focus on the effort
and ideas that workers contribute to their teams or to
the overall production process. Supervisor. and workers
must have good judgment and maturity to make fair
assessments. When the team is responsible for the
review, it may get comments from support personnel and
from managers where relevant.
The reviews may be held according to a strict calendar
schedule, such an every 6 or 12 months, or when workers
complete work modules and ask to be evaluated on their
performance.
ISSUES OF ADVANCEMENT
When there are fewer job classifications, there are
also fewer opportunities to promote workers to a higher
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so
level in the job hierarchy. Companies with fewer levels
were replacing the job hierarchy as a means of advance-
ment with a sequence of work module. to be learned. In
some cases, workers will quickly reach a plateau.
· An automobile component. plant (M) with only three
nonexempt job classifications expected that unskilled
workers would reach the top pay level in 2 years, after
passing module reviews at 6-month intervals.
· An engine plant (C) with two job classification.
had one of them, ~technicians,. pas. through six levels
in 5 yearn. Each team had 30 to SO work modules to learn
in it. area. The plant reported that some people chose
not to apply for these jobs when they learned of the lack
of traditional advancement.
O Managers in a military vehicle component. plant (D)
expected that team members would reach the highest level
after 4 years. The next step for worker. would be to
learn to operate the software and simulation system in
the FMS, thus reducing the work presently done by
managers. In non-FMS areas, workers who complete all
requirements for one classification could move to another
work team or area.
It may be possible to extend the incentive JO learn by
rewarding workers not only for the number of modules
learned, but also for their depth of knowledge and skill
in performing any one module. Also, management may not
be willing to continue rewarding everyone in the plant
for the number of modules they can perform. Beyond some
point, it does not pay to have every worker skilled in
all activities required in the factory, and management
may ask how many multiskilled workers are needed and
worth paying for. As managers communicate the plant's
values to the work force, they will have to emphasize
that learning and development must also be cost effective.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
production process
