UNIT – I Lesson 1 HRM – AN OVERVIEW Lesson Outline Nature of ...

Peter Drucker (2002), the renowned Management Guru identified different types of
productivity such as plant productivity, material productivity, financial and capital
productivity, machine productivity and human productivity. Human productivity is further
classified as managerial and labor productivity. He has emphasized productivity through
the following statement “A productivity measurement is the only yardstick that can
actually gauge the competence of management and allow comparison between
managements of different units within the enterprise, and of different enterprises”.
Poor productivity is the result of several factors like lack of adequate planning,
failure to be proactive in preparing for alternatives, incompetence, insufficient training,
weak discipline, low standards and disharmonious relationship between employer
employees. Other phenomena that could result in productivity problems include demotivation,
lack of commitment towards job and organization, tolerance towards wasteful
practices, bloated human power, nepotism, impeding bureaucracy, dysfunctional
competition, conflicts and alienation among employees. Inadequate office support, lack of
proper equipments, shortages of supplies, excessive reporting requirements and
unpredictable workloads are also common situational constraints.
Productivity could also be affected by certain restrictive practices which might be
in the form of outmoded, irrational or unreasonable rules or customs which unduly hinder
the efficient use of labor. At times, work groups might seek to maintain traditional rights
and prerogatives in the context of changed circumstances and technological advance.
Some times, wage-productivity linkage might have to be examined for commensurability.
Hence it might not be worthwhile for any manager to aim straightaway at productivity
improvement without addressing these underlying impeding factors.
Productivity in certain cases might also be impaired due to human causes. This
might include pressures from coworkers to limit one’s performance in orders to check
work targets from shooting up or prevent downsizing. Inadequate performance by
coworkers could also affect a person’s productivity if the latter is an internal customer of
the former. There could be situational constraints due to colleagues in the form of turnover
of key personnel and absenteeism. Elton Mayo, the father of Human Relations School of
management thought concluded that behavior and sentiments were closely related. He
established that group influences significantly affected individual behavior, that groups’
standards established individual worker’s output and that money was les a factor in
determining output and productivity than aspects like group standards, group sentiments
and groups’ security.