The concept of labor productivity means the most efficient ratio of costs to performance. Harrington Emerson introduced this concept into science. Management as a science began to develop rapidly after the discovery of this term and the beginning of its study. The issue of increasing labor productivity is still very acute at many enterprises, and many managers are looking for ways to increase this indicator.
Harrington Emerson: biography
G. Emerson (years of life - 1853-1931) studied in Munich and was a mechanical engineer by profession. For a short period of time he was a teacher at a university in the state of Nebraska (USA), and also took an active part in the construction of mountain complexes in Alaska, Mexico and the United States of America.
Also engaged in the construction of roads, ships, laid telegraph cable. Emerson also planned to build a submarine.
Throughout his youth, G. Emerson traveled to Europe, and with age, when he became a fairly well-known person in management, he came to the Soviet Union and there he appreciated the achievements of the Russian people in the production and management of the production process.
Career and research activities of G. Emerson
In 1903, Emerson was invited to work as an adviser to the railway company. In 1910, a dispute arose between a railway company and freight forwarders. The railway company claimed that it had very high salary costs and wanted to raise tariffs. However, Harrington Emerson was able to prove that with the help of various scientific methods, the railway company can reduce its costs every day by one million dollars. Thus, the company failed.
G. Emerson was also a famous entrepreneur and writer. In his book “12 Principles of Productivity,” Emerson Harrington revealed the basic tenets that can greatly improve work efficiency. This work is known all over the world. However, when studying it, it must be remembered that Harrington Emerson worked on his work in a different era, with a completely different social and economic level of development of society.
Harrington Emerson's Contribution to Management
Mr. Emerson made a huge contribution to the development of management. He believed that with proper management of labor productivity, you can achieve the highest results at the lowest costs. Stressful and hard work can only achieve good results in abnormal working conditions. Emerson stated that labor productivity and stress are completely different concepts. If the employee is working hard, then this means that he makes the maximum possible effort. And to work productively, you need to make the smallest efforts. And the goal of management is to minimize efforts and maximize results.
The scientist made a huge contribution to the development of management, discovering the 12 principles of productivity known to this day. Emerson Harrington proposed the term “labor productivity” as the foundation for job improvement.
Brief description of the basic principles of increasing labor productivity
Harrington Emerson identified the following 12 core performance principles:
- Correctly set goals. When working in a team and performing any work, it is necessary that each person has precisely set goals and objectives. This will help to make the work harmonious and avoid various problems and malfunctions.
- Common sense. The manager is obliged to exclude any emotions from his work, he must study and analyze the production process only from the standpoint of common sense. This will help to draw the right conclusions and develop prospects for further action.
- Competent advice and advice. Good and competent advice is needed on all issues arising in the production and management process. The only truly competent opinion is collegial opinion.
- Discipline and order. All participants in the production process must comply with the order and adhere to the established rules.
- Fair and impartial attitude towards employees. Any leader should be fair to his employees, not to single out anyone, but not to oppress anyone.
- Fast, accurate, complete and continuous accounting. This principle allows the manager to receive all the necessary and most complete information about his employees and the production process on time, which allows quick decisions.
- Dispatching. Thanks to this principle, the leader is able to clearly and quickly manage and coordinate the work of the entire labor collective.
- Principles and timetables. Applying this principle, it is possible to isolate all the shortcomings of the production process and minimize all the damage caused by these shortcomings.
- Establishment of working conditions. For the employee, such working conditions should be created at the enterprise that the result from his activities will be maximum.
- Rationing work operations. Using this principle, the necessary amount of time for each operation is established, as well as the sequence of their execution.
- Standard written instructions. At the factory, certain instructions and rules must be fixed in writing regarding the procedure for performing various works.
- Performance Award. Within the framework of this principle, it was established that each employee should be encouraged for a job well done, then his labor productivity will grow steadily.
Currently, the principles of increasing the productivity of G. Emerson are very successfully applied at industrial and manufacturing enterprises. These principles have been used by leading managers for many years to improve the efficiency of workers.