Jumping for the Jelly Beans (2 of 2) [TEXT ON SCREEN: Fredrick Herzberg Jumping for the Jellybeans Part 2 of 2] FREDERICK HERZBERG: I need responsible idiots. Now, this is where job enrichment comes in. The job enrichment movement is to give people the opportunity to use their ability. [MUSIC PLAYING] [TEXT ON SCREEN: Job enrichment?] All jobs that people have should have a range of responsibilities and activities. Sort of like concentric circles, in which you are hired for this job, the largest job. Though you come in with the ability to only do this, you are hired to do that, and expected eventually to do that. And you are paid for that. What this does is put in one of the most important ingredients in life and activity. All jobs should be a learning experience, a growth experience inherent in the job. [MUSIC PLAYING] [TEXT ON SCREEN: Feedback?] Within this module of work, within this concentric circle job, you have to make sure a number of things occur. First of all, that the individual gets direct feedback, which is very important. How am I doing should be built into the system automatically. How am I doing should not be a formalized outside my job system. That is a supervisor telling me. How am I doing should not be dependent upon an appraisal system. How am I doing should not be dependent upon somebody else telling me. [MUSIC PLAYING] [TEXT ON SCREEN: Self checking?] Along with the direct feedback should be the responsibility for self checking. The man should always be responsible, how responsible for his own quality. You cannot pass that buck off to an inspection team. But you cannot hold anybody responsible to be an idiot. So if you're going to hold him responsible for checking his results, he has to have a meaningful thing to do to check. If he's doing idiot work, then you cannot hold him responsible for checking it. [MUSIC PLAYING] [TEXT ON SCREEN: Communication?] Now in industry, we communicate too damn much. The worst thing to do-- and most of the communication, of course, is passive communication. The idea is if you tell the worker what it's all about, he will be more motivated. So you're telling him why he has to be an idiot. And we get too much communication. One, because we feel that we have to tell everybody everything. He really doesn't give a damn. If he's on a idiot job, he doesn't give a damn. Another reason for too much communication in a company is because we don't allow the person doing one job communicating with a person he has to communicate with. We have to go through a supervisor, over to his supervisor, down the communication. So one important ingredient in job enrichment is direct communication. Let the man talk directly to the person he has to, not go intermediaries. [MUSIC PLAYING] [TEXT ON SCREEN: Money?] Let me say, the worst way to pay people is on piece rate. That is absolutely the worst way to pay people. That's paying people constantly jelly beans-- reinforcing each little bit of behavior. The next worst pay to pay people is on an hourly rate. The best way to pay them is a salary, a yearly salary, period. Now, let me make a point here. Hygiene is as important as the motivators for different reasons. That's the important. One is not more important than the other. Where does that put a value judgment? I don't know what's more important, write a book or eat? It's like asking, do you want me to kill your wife or your daughter? It's a non-competitive question. Quite frankly ladies and gentlemen, I wallow in hygiene. I love hygiene. There's an article by a Columbia University professor, titled the Armless Dr. Herzberg in Wage and Salary Administration. And his gist of his argument was, watch out for Herzberg, because he doesn't believe in money. And a lot of companies pick this up, and say, oh, wonderful-- wonderful. You don't believe in money. And I had to run around all these companies and say, this is not true. It's misinterpretation of my theory. No-- no-- no Fred, you don't believe in money. Great-- great. So in sheer desperation, I had to raise my fees. [CROWD LAUGHS] Can I make the point that when I say it is hygiene, it is not a second class citizen concept. Treating people well and using them well are equally important for different reasons.