Pride of workmanship is the gratifying sense of having done good work. It is an element of
job satisfaction
Job satisfaction, employee satisfaction or work satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentedness with their job, whether they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or supervision. Job satisfaction can be ...
. One of the key principles in the philosophy of management consultant
W. Edwards Deming
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical ...
is that workers have a right to
pride
Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...
of
workmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products.
Workman ...
:
# Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
# Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, ''
inter alia'', abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of
management by objective Management by objectives (MBO), also known as management by planning (MBP), was first popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book ''The Practice of Management''.Drucker, P., ''The Practice of Management'', Harper, New York, 1954; Heinemann, London ...
.
Importance
In ''Out of the Crisis'' (1982), Deming argues that pride of workmanship is more important to workers than "gymnasiums, tennis courts, and recreation areas," and that barriers to pride of workmanship are a major obstacle to cost reduction and quality improvement.
Economist
Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism.
In his best-known book, ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' ...
advocated transferring control of industry from financial and business people to engineers, who were most likely to be driven by pride of workmanship and curiosity.
Luddites revolt
During the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, the factory system destroyed the workers' traditional way of life, depriving them of pride of workmanship, among other things. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, workers responded by destroying machines and factories in what were called the
Luddite
The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver s ...
revolts.
References
Bibliography
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External links
The Vine Sprouts Employee Program
Pride
Quality
Industrial and organizational psychology
Employee relations
Industrial Revolution
Organizational behavior
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