The understanding of "what work means to an individual" and what motivates them, is important to recognize, as it deals with job satisfaction and retention. The Meaning of Work project (MOW) - International Research Team (1987), defines work by the choices and experiences of individuals, and by the organisational and environmental context in which they work and live.
Work plays a central and fundamental role in the lives of individuals (Brief & Nord, 1990; England & Misumi, 1986; Mannheim, 1993) and is placed relatively high in importance when compared with other areas of life (Quintanilla-Ruiz & Wilpert, 1991). Research has shown that work is considered to be of more importance than leisure, community, and religion and was found in several studies to be ranked second only to family (Harding & Hikspoors, 1995; Harpaz, 1999; MOW - International Research Team, 1987).
Employing individuals involves a continuing personal relationship between employer and employee; however there are some initial factors that need to be considered before attempting to offer employment. According to Rees (1979) the following four components need to be considered:
• Labour force participation
• The number of hours people are willing to work.
• Effort put forth while at work
• Ski 11-based pay
2.3.1 Labour force participation
Labour force participation deals mainly with supply and demand. Until recently formal theory of labour supply concerned the choices made by individuals between work and leisure. It separated all other forms of work i.e. education, household work, with market work (Rees 1979) and current theory acknowledges that all members who make a particular category in the labour force - architectural students up to retired members, make up the eligible total labour force. However the participant rate may vary. For example, a rise in wage for market work may induce participation by members who are currently dormant or not practicing. Members, who have left architecture to pursue other avenue eg to care for families etc, are enticed to return to work. Skills/labour shortages generally result in employers increasing the wage level to entice these dormant members back into the work place, and the consequence is that wage rates are unrealistic compared to experience. These unequal levels of remuneration to grade cause dissatisfaction with those permanent employees as well as benchmarking a wage for new graduates that employers cannot maintain in market lows.
2.3.2 The number of hours people are willing to work.
It is assumed that people work mainly for, are motivated by, and enjoy obtaining rewards which satisfy various needs (Lawler, 1994) and that people perceive work as a main vehicle for providing this, (Dubin, Champoux, Porter, 1975; Kanungo &
Mendonca, 1992). However the amount of labour supplied depends on the number of hours people are willing to work.
Figure 2.10 shows the employee's choice between work and leisure. The points along the indifference curve 1° represent combinations of work and leisure and gives the worker satisfaction. The diagram assumes that the workers hours are at a constant wage rate and is represented in the lines OtoW0. The scale has been cut off at 70 hours per week as few workers choose to work more than this. The individual whose indifference map where 0W° is tangent to 7° at (A) shows the maximum satisfaction at 45 hours of work for that amount of pay.
Figure 2-9 Work and Leisure Satisfaction Indifference Curves (Rees, 1979)
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 HOURS OF WORK
Elements such as overtime and incentive pay raise the hours work to (B) and a new indifference curve I1 shows the new satisfaction level. This suggests that overtime / incentives pay is usually larger in order to call for the extra hours needed.
Just as there are people who work less hours there are those who work more. People who are multiple job holders or moonlighters, are mainly people with heavy family responsibilities and relatively low rates of pay or lack of overtime pay (Rees, 1979) and this practice is fairly common amongst architectural firms with employees working on private jobs.
2.3.3 Effort put forth while at work
The theory of "effort put forth while at work" suggests that the pace of work should be faster for shorter hours, as a worker cannot sustain an intense pace for long periods (Rees, 1979). Pay is related to the process aspects of a job, that is, the behaviour required to convert inputs into outputs and outcomes (Armstrong & Murlis, 1998).
Reasonable people expect employment compensation to be contingent upon work - it should compensate for the opportunity costs associated with work and serves as an incentive or inducement to perform work (Mahoney, 1989).
2.3.4 Skill-based pay
Skill-based pay is a payment method in which pay progression is linked to the number, kind and depth of skills that individuals develop and use. Pay is people, rather than job orientated (Armstrong & Murlis, 1998) and the figure below represents two individuals (A) and (B) where (A) has invested in increasing skills. The method for deciding the profiles is:
Figure 2-10 The Supply of Skill and Investment in Human Capital (Rees,1979)
V i Y r
= present value of individual
= designates age
= earnings in a particular year
= the rate of return
65
(=18 (l + rr
A
• 1
S 2 RO.OO
1 • • !
, v/ ' | |
Skills narrowing In labour shortage
1 1 1 1 65 AGE
Individual (A) earnings do not immediately equal (B) as (B) has been receiving on the job training. To the right of the point where they cross is the gross return on the
educational investment and it is also more realistic to assume that (A) will retire later.
However an important argument put forward by Reder (1955) that during labour shortages of skilled people, there will be a narrowing of skill differentials, as other less skilled workers are promoted with "on the job training" to skilled positions.
Rees's (1979) concept of the labour force separates work from all the other uses of time. It is an over-simplification to illustrate the decision made between work and leisure. Decisions about the allocation of time will reflect how individuals view opportunities, such as studying versus entering the market immediately and the remuneration and grade level expectations.
The levels of satisfaction show the number of hours members are willing to work for a level of remuneration. The purpose of the theory is to show how a rational decision maker may respond to changes in the opportunities facing him. There are cases in which employers want large amounts of overtime where workers are reluctant to supply it which results in an investigation on incentives to compensate the member's satisfaction level to the new level of work hours.
In addition to an individual's willingness to work, almost all workers bring to their jobs some skill and experience. The analysis of the investment of human capital, provides one of the main explanations for wage differentials by age, experience, qualification etc and helps determine policy on how to grade and remunerate these individuals.
Finally, it should be kept in mind that when an investment in tertiary education is considered, investors are estimating from current employment conditions, the returns that will actually be received at some point in the future. This impacts the architectural profession directly, as a higher return attracts new entrants to the profession and an increased supply of graduates.
It is therefore in the interest of all parties, firms, professional institutes and educational institutions that the correct levels of remuneration and grading systems are in place to portray the correct public image of the profession.