What Jewelers Want
Recently I heard an interesting story about the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. During the initial building of the bridge no safety devices were used and sadly several men fell to their deaths. However, during the last part of the project, the construction company stretched a large safety net under the bridge at a cost of $100,000. At least 10 men fell into it and their lives were spared.
What is interesting is that 25 percent more work was accomplished each day, after the men were assured of their safety. That increase in productivity more than paid for the safety net, not to mention the value of the men’s lives that were saved.
When management provided the workers what THEY wanted, a safe, secure workplace; management received what it wanted, increased productivity. The result was the bridge was completed under budget and ahead of schedule. No monetary incentives could have accomplished so much.
One of the difficulties of managing lies in knowing what your employees want. An interesting study was done a number of years ago at General Electric’s Hawthorn Plant. Management and employees were given a list of ten items. They were to list the ten items in order of importance to employees. The results are quite enlightening.