From the Dark Side of Productivity, Part 1 of 2

This week, in the first installment of a two-part series on the negative side effects associated with productivity projects, I’ll reference a retailer’s productivity project gone bad, as well as look back at how an industry expert viewed productivity.

Two recent articles in The Wall Street Journal serve as stark reminders of this reality. The first, “Retailers Reprogram Workers in Efficiency Push” (Sept. 10, 2008) described installations of workforce management software at Ann Taylor Stores Corp. and other retailers. The article pointed out that workforce management systems are “sweeping the industry as retailers fight to improve productivity and cut payroll costs.” Some workers aren’t happy about the trend, the report said, because the systems leave them with shorter shifts, make it difficult to schedule their lives and “unleash Darwinian forces on the sales floor that damage morale.”