Survey Finds Money Spurs Productivity

U.S. workers lack enthusiasm and don’t enjoy their jobs, and the best way to motivate employees may be to offer them more money, according to most of the quality-control engineers responding to a recent survey.

The Institute of Industrial Engineers, after examining responses to a survey of its members’ opinions on workplace productivity and issues about quality, said corporations must invest more in motivating employees and making the workers feel that they can share in the company’s success.

The alternative could be declining productivity and quality, said Gregory Balestrero, executive director of the IIE, based in Norcross, Ga.

“It’s affecting corporations very rapidly,” Balestrero said Friday in Miami, where he was attending a conference.

Balestrero said 27% of the IIE’s 40,000 members responded to the annual survey, with 75.2% of the respondents saying they did not think that employees were enthusiastic about their jobs or enjoyed coming to work. In a 1987 survey, 54.9% of those responding said employees were enthusiastic and enjoyed coming to work.

Balestrero said some major corporations, notably Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing and Ford Motor Co., have instituted successful programs to provide employees with incentives for improved overall company performance.

Such “gain sharing” programs, he said, set corporate goals rather than individual goals, which when exceeded, provide benefits to everyone. But few corporations are making such an effort, he said.

When asked the primary motivation for employees to increase productivity, the greatest percentage of respondents--29%--listed financial reward, followed by personal recognition, increased responsibilities and pride in the job.

Balestrero said that in 1980, recognition topped the list, but money began returning to prominence around 1985.