Productivity boosting widely misunderstood
Productivity boosting widely misunderstood
JAKARTA (JP): The idea of improving productivity has been
widely misunderstood by companies in Indonesia, says a
businessmen.
Vice Chairman of the Supervising Board of Strategic Industries
(BPIS) Giri S. Hadihardjono said that companies have introduced
various modern and sophisticated equipment thinking that they
could quickly improve their workers' productivity.
"But, unfortunately, that target cannot be fully achieved,"
Giri said at a seminar to discuss productivity enhancement.
"In many cases, the investment even backfires resulting in
lower productivity because the purchase of the new equipment is
not accompanied by a higher volume of work."
The equipment eventually becomes idle and unused, he added.
Other speakers during the seminar which was jointly organized
by the Ministry of Manpower and the Pan Asia Research and
Communication Services, had earlier suggested that productivity
is an acquired culture which can only evolve over time.
Giri said the introduction of computers at companies provides
a striking illustration for his point.
Many companies have invested heavily in computer equipment but
the sophisticated programs installed remain largely unused since
most companies only used the computers for word processing
purposes.
Realizing their mistake, companies then began hiring foreign
consultants to give an overview of their operating system and
organization with a view to enhancing their productivity.
"Such a situation makes Indonesia 'a fertile ground' for
foreign consultants to operate," Giri said.
He warned that resorting to foreign consultants very often did
not lead to a satisfactory outcome because their suggestions were
mostly unworkable.
Giri agreed that Indonesia must act now to improve the
productivity of its workers.
Any lingering doubts in the minds of foreign investors could
push them to turn to other countries, he said.
He proposed a more comprehensive way of looking at enhancing
productivity.
"The time has come for the country to develop a new approach
that should be deployed to improve its productivity," he said.
He said that not only the government but all sides or groups
in the country are responsible for making endeavors to enhance
the national productivity.
"Of the utmost importance is the commitment by all
organizations and leaders to consistently apply the new approach
to enhance the national productivity," he said. (rms)