Commitment, involvement, values and resolve cannot be bought or taught, they can only be aroused and earned
All management theories have attempted to address the issue of productivity. Even when there were no theories, then also it was productivity. From the crude method of having ferocious lions chase runners to increase their speed, as tried by the Roman kings, to the sophisticated approach of the management thinkers, who often shuttled between the concepts of operations and co-operations, the obsession with productivity has been persisting. Yet, the enigma continues as the answer to the age-old question ‘what motivates’ remains elusive.
In all those myriad theoretical discourses, perhaps, the crucial missing link has been the mind of the individual. The mind that affects the heart and soul and also gets affected. But one conclusion, arguably, has been drawn that mind is the driver of productivity. The big question, however, has always been ‘what drives the mindIJ’ The question continues to remain an issue for practitioners and thinkers of management alike whose central concern is productivity, no matter how many words they try to camouflage it with.
Attempts to answer the question cannot be said to have failed altogether as numerous insights have been offered. But the attempts cannot be said to have succeeded either. At best, they have been able to recommend some rituals to take care of the issue. Yes, men could be scientifically trained to produce more and more by less and less. And apparently they did it cheerfully. But did theyIJ Perhaps not. Because the men who were working could also think. And for them these endeavours appear to be an attempt to create an ideal factory fashioned in the style of a ‘model cow house’, the expression coined by psychologist JAC Brown. The milch cows of this factory were the industrial workers who did not buy the bait. On rethinking, it was discovered that this whole idea of ideal factory missed a valid point — the adequate conception of the individual worker as a normal human being, who thinks, feels and reasons. That is the human being is not as rational as is believed.
Alas, many still do not agree and view the workplace from their own tinted glasses coloured with profitability and productivity. Human beings are not machines, and a good pay and pleasant work environment do not necessarily make them productive. Where have we gone wrong in our assumptions about the human nature, which is unstable and volatileIJ The assumptions behind the theories of productivity, though, hold good and give results, but only if other things are equal. But other things are not equal as has been discovered time and again. The worker is not an isolated machine producing results that depend on his internal state of health, good or bad conditions of the physical environment and his economic interests. He is a human being, a member of a team, a family and society at large too. The most important attribute that will determine productivity will be his cognitive appraisal of the workplace vis-a-vis the above mentioned factors. To make the workplace productive, there is a need to think beyond the ritual and awaken the spiritual. The commitment, values, involvement and resolve. Alas, these cannot be bought or taught. They can only be aroused and earned. This applies to all fields, all organisations.
The writer is a professor, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com