Our Engineers Are Just Not Motivated

OUR ENGINEERS ARE JUST NOT MOTIVATED Situation: You are a consultant to the manager of mechanical engineering for a large company(8,000 employees,Rupess 700 crores annual sales) that manufactures industrial equipment. The manager had been in this position for six months, having moved from a similar position in a much smaller company. Manager: I just can't seem to get these guys to perform. They are all extremely competent, but they just don't seem to be willing to exert the kind of effort that we need and expect to have if this company is going to remain successful. Consultant: What type of work do they do? Manager : Primarily designing minor modifications to existing equipment lines to keep up with our competition and to satisfy special customer requirements. Consultant : How do you evaluate their performance? Manager : Mainly on whether they meet project deadlines. It's hard to evaluate the quality of their work, since most of it is fairly routine and the designs are frequently altered later by the production engineers to facilitate production processes. Consultant: Are they meeting their deadlines reasonably well? Manager : No, that's the problem. What's worse is that they don't really seem too concerned about it. Consultant : What financial rewards do you offer them? Manager : These people are all well-paid - some of the best salaries for mechanical engineers that I know of anywhere. Base pay is determined mainly on the basis of seniority, but there is also a company wide profit sharing plan. At the end of each year, the company distibutes 10 percent of its profit after taxes to the employees. The piece of the pie that you get is in proportion to your basic salary. This kind of plan was used in the company I used to work for, and it seemed to have a highly motivating effect for them. They also get good vacations, insurance plans, and all the other usual goodies. I know of no complaints about compensation.

Consultant: How about promotion possibilities?