Opher BanariePay For Performance
September 16th 2008 20:17
Much has been written about the connection between pay and performance. In England, a farmer asked a team of economists to study the matter and to devise ways of linking pay and performance even closer.
As Slate reports, the results were amazing:
In three successive summers of picking strawberries, the economists' experiments raised production by 50 percent, an additional 20 percent and yet another 20 percent.
If you have never raised strawberries you may not be aware that they are delicate plants and the fruit cannot wait to be harvested some other day. And since individual fruit may ripen at different rates, it is necessary to return every few days to the same rows and to harvest from thinning quantities of fruit.
What would happen to the produce industry if similar programs were used in less perishable product, such as lettuce or watermelon? In the US farmers proclaim that they must have access to cheap (read "illegal") workers in order to keep market prices low. Since this report I don't agree: It appears to me that you can double output with little change in the total pay of the pickers. Maybe even school teachers could understand those economics!
As Slate reports, the results were amazing:
Farmer Smith tried to adjust the piece rate each day so that it was always adequate but never generous: The more the work force picked, the lower the piece rate. But his workers were outwitting him by keeping an eye on each other, making sure nobody picked too quickly, and thus collectively slowing down and cranking up the piece rate.
If you have never raised strawberries you may not be aware that they are delicate plants and the fruit cannot wait to be harvested some other day. And since individual fruit may ripen at different rates, it is necessary to return every few days to the same rows and to harvest from thinning quantities of fruit.
What would happen to the produce industry if similar programs were used in less perishable product, such as lettuce or watermelon? In the US farmers proclaim that they must have access to cheap (read "illegal") workers in order to keep market prices low. Since this report I don't agree: It appears to me that you can double output with little change in the total pay of the pickers. Maybe even school teachers could understand those economics!
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