Synopsis
If you've been searching for a commonsense, results-oriented approach to improving employee productivity, look no further. The dean of human resources consulting, Robert E. Sibson, has developed a process known as EP (employee productivity). The beauty of this proven method is that it doesn't require organizational upheaval or large investments in time, money, or new personnel. "If your company or unit has management know-how," says the author, "you already have what it takes to implement and profit from EP."
EP shows you how to focus sound and familiar management practices to achieve significant productivity yields in any kind of organization. You won't be sidetracked by Total Quality Management or similar concepts, which Sibson believes are faddish and likely to fail. Instead, you'll learn exactly how to apply his basic 2-step method. It begins with four steps required for every organization: getting executive commitment; developing a productivity culture; making productivity part of every manager's job; and measuring productivity.
The remaining steps vary according to specific need. You'll determine how to proceed by measuring the results of your initial work and investing your gain into future actions: using technology more effectively; eliminating unproductive practices; empowering employees; utilizing networking; ensuring excellence in staffing; restructuring through streamlining and possible staff reduction; managing performance; and rewarding performance.
At each step, you'll find specific guidelines for implementation and performance measurement. Here, too, are the results of two surveys made by the author - one reporting the experiences of 227 companies with productivity management, the other covering worker attitudes toward productivity - provided as benchmarks for your own productivity management efforts.
Reviews
Business consultant Sibson (Increasing Employee Productivity, 1976) advocates an "EP" (employee productivity) process in addressing the problems American businesses have in competing today. His theory is that larger per-year increases in productivity would greatly improve living standards in the United States. He believes that these types of improvements are possible if properly managed through some type of EP process, which is results-oriented rather than related to any specific process. Sibson advances a 12-step approach for incorporating EP into a firm's management structure. He explains his theories in great detail but in a reasoned, logical manner using proven management techniques and practices. His presentation deserves reading and study because productivity is a vital issue in society today. Recommended for all libraries.
Littleton M. Maxwell, Business Information Ctr., Univ. of Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Earlier this year a survey by Conference Board, the respected business research organization, found that the "total quality management" movement in the U.S. is still thriving and will remain viable for the foreseeable future. The study also found, however, many managerial critics who view TQM as a fad, and a suspicious rank-and-file as well. Human resources consultant Sibson is one of the skeptics. Debunking not only TQM but the newer concept of re-engineering, he offers his own back-to-basics 12-step program. Sibson has been investigating and writing about productivity for 30 years. Based on the results of his own 1992 survey of 200 companies, his recommendations include making productivity part of every manager's and each employee's responsibility. Sibson is also author of Compensation (1990), a standard work on employee benefits now in its fifth edition. It is therefore no surprise that he emphasizes pay for performance as a key step in improving productivity. David Rouse
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