Job Performance
I touched on Job performance in the subject of Work Place Psychology for both are closely tied together!
In the construction and wood working industry, which I am very familiar with. To measure job performance, I use Q Tech Work Study program. I specialize in the construction and wood working industry for have knowledge of all the different methods employed. For example, measuring efficiency of office personal totally different parameters apply to research them takes considerable time to develop a methodology.
Tasks involved in analyzing job performance.
- Define and document the standard method.
- Divide the task into work elements.
These first two steps are conducted prior to the actual timing. They familiarize the analyst with the task and allow the analyst to attempt to improve the work procedure before defining the standard time.
- Time the work elements to obtain the observed time for the task.
- Evaluate the worker’s pace relative to standard performance (performance rating), to determine the normal time.
Note that steps 3 and 4 are accomplished simultaneously. During these steps, several different work cycles are timed, and each cycle performance is rated independently. Finally, the values collected at these steps are averaged to get the normalized time.
- Apply an allowance to the normal time to compute the standard time. The allowance factors that are needed in the work are then added to compute the standard time for the task.
In the job performance analysis step one and two would be set up! Like the example in quantity survey. What takes the least steps to complete a repetitive task? For this; one needs actual knowledge of how a job is done. It is simple in factory setting but complex when involving trades like
in construction industry. For optimum performance one usually has a team working together. It is beneficial to assess team performance! Work can also be grouped into aerobic tasks and anaerobic task. In other words, the work can be so strenuous great muscle recruitment required and a task can only be carried out for short duration!
I must bring up one other aspect of management that is sub contracting! I will explain using an idealized and simplified system of contract management.
Definition! The terms I use in the hierarchy, for depending on what discipline one studies, the individual terms of the positions may differ, but fundamental behavior stays.
General Contractor (could be also owner, developer, HR. etc.)
Contractor
Sub Contractor
Sub sub Contractor
Essentially the General contractor does not need to know anything about building, lets say he sells and collects, so every contractor is bidding for every aspect of the building process. The general contractor in this case is making sure all the individual contracts are completed, he will make sure any charges that are incurred like garbage removal, defective workmanship etc. are completed by the contractor and charged back to the contractors. The purpose is to find the minimum possible price for a project. To keep the price minimum, it is advantageous to engage as many sub contractors as possible in the bidding process. In this idealized system it is most advantageous for the contractor to complete the job as fast and as cheap as possible. The general contractor in order to make the contractor more responsible needs to include as much detail in contract as possible!
In other words, the general contractors aim is to make the contracts as inclusive as possible to place as much liability as possible on the sub contractors and the sub contractor is trying to do as little as possible in order to maximize his profits! The legal issues in this simplified scenario can be daunting!
First question one should ask oneself is one getting the best price for the money spent! Let’s look at the dynamic details. The risk increases to a contractor, one needs to include in prices problems such as equipment failure, employee’s injury, weather can have significant factors, length of supply runs, market demand. All those factors increase the cost above the wage rate. Market demand can add significant costs, even to technical simple jobs such as roofing, siding install. To mitigate the effect of decrease in quality in a contract environment and maintain quality! Inspections, insurance and guarantees are used in a contract environment!
When reviewing contracts for a project the things to look for are not just the best price but all the issues that have been addressed in the initial setup of the project. All too often when looking at the details and questioning; serious shortcoming become apparent!
What one should take away from this contracting is not the ultimate win all solution! The ability to manage labor is! I have been involved in projects where the contracting is many level down until final install! For example, developer contracts a general contractor for building, general contractor contracts a subcontractor for a job, the sub contractor hires another sub contractor to do the actual install. Many times the last guy on the ladder has be biggest problem getting paid! At each level one has to assume a management fee is implemented, which increases cost above average labor cost to the consumer. Management usually finds this scenario preferable for no knowledge of labor management required and one can drive the price down on a job per job basis!
In essence all businesses use this system, with many different variances to suit their needs and terminology. I try to explain it in this simplified form, so one can recognize when one is a contractor. I have seen people being very confused and taken advantage off using this system! Also seen management systems, set up so stake holder think they are a contractor, with so many constraining regulations employed, one can say that they are an employee!