Science has proven that the essence and evolution of man is connected with activity. Activity is a universal way to satisfy needs through an active, transformative attitude towards the world. Activities aimed at the normal functioning of the human body in the surrounding nature are called life activities.

Human life is studied by a variety of sciences. However, the basis of people’s lives is economic activity, which goes through four stages: production – distribution – exchange – consumption of goods and services.

Production is the process of creating material and other goods, i.e. human influence on objects and forces of nature in order to adapt them to satisfy certain needs.

We study 4 factors of production: labor, capital, land, entrepreneurial ability, the most important of which is labor. Labor is one of the types of activity. According to K. Marx, labor is the process of creating consumer values, i.e. goods that satisfy a specific human need.

The sages of all times and peoples sang hymns to work and the working man.

Aristotle: “The purpose of man is in rational activity.”

Aesop: “The true treasure for people is the ability to work.”

Voltaire: “Work relieves us of three evils: boredom, vice and want.”

Leonardo da Vinci: "Glory is in the hands of labor."

Balzac: “Constant work is the law of both art and life.”

The main goals of human activity include:

Material goods;

Power and glory;

Spiritual perfection.

The set of qualitative personality traits that influence the result of activity reflects the concept of “labor potential” and its components:

Ability to create social contacts;

Abilities and tasks;

Rationality of labor behavior;

Availability of knowledge and skills;

Supply on the labor market.

The factors of an individual’s labor potential include: health, morality (work ethic), creativity, activity, education, professionalism, working time resources, etc.

Scientific research data indicate that indicators reflecting the state of the main components of labor activity in Russian society have decreased over the years of market reforms. There is a deterioration in the health of the nation, a decline in the moral core of society, and a lack of work ethic. Creative potential has decreased significantly. In terms of the number of inventions, publications, references in the scientific literature and, finally, the number of Nobel laureates, the situation is not in Russia’s favor. Of the total number of domestic inventions, less than 1% are patented abroad; in the USA this figure reached 30%, in Switzerland – 40%. The share of different countries in the global patent fund is: USA - 30%, Germany - 20%, Japan - 10%, France - 8%, Russia - 1.5%.

The level of Russia's creative potential is largely determined by the low activity of the labor force. It is interesting that the nature of activity was studied most deeply and consistently by L. N. Gumilyov. The scientist called a person’s desire for something new, to change the usual, traditional, “violation of inertia” passionarity (Latin passio - passion). L.N. Gumilev emphasized that passionarity as a special energetic state of a person applies not only to individual individuals, but also to large groups. Based on the signs of passion and direction of interests, the author of this concept proposed a classification of people. He identified such types as “philistines, vagabonds, criminals, business people, scientists, adventurers, prophets...”.

Today, the decline in the activity of the country's population is explained by many reasons, including the lack of national ideas, shifting values, confusion of people in new conditions, disappointment with reforms and much more.

Problems and contradictions in education are noted. In this indicator, we are significantly behind the world level. Particularly impressive are the changes in the educational attainment of the American workforce. By the beginning of 2000, about 83% of all US adults aged 25 years and older had completed secondary education, and 24% had completed higher education. In 1996, 45,000 doctoral degrees and 406,000 master's of science degrees were awarded in the United States. By 2000, the average number of years of education for the working-age population reached 13 years, which is one year higher than the level of secondary school. Thus, by aggregate measures of educational attainment, the American workforce is one of the best prepared in the world. As for the professional and qualification structure of the labor force, by 2000 the share of those employed primarily in mental work (“white collar”) reached almost 60% of the economically active population in the United States. The share of people who work primarily in manual labor, which includes workers of all skill levels and the so-called “service workers” (cooks, waiters, medical personnel, etc.), is slowly but steadily declining.

The specialized literature most often reflects the quantitative aspect of our lag. But there is another side - differences in the degree of use of acquired knowledge in production. Until recently, only 10% of graduates of technical universities work in engineering specialties, and the rest work wherever necessary. This initially reduces the effectiveness of education.

Thus, the facts indicate that it is necessary to carry out targeted reforms that strengthen Russia’s labor potential. This applies to all forms of manifestation of labor potential.

This can be achieved only through efforts to motivate labor and stimulate active, creative, highly qualified labor.

An act of human activity includes elements:

Subject (individual or group);

Means of achieving the goal (tools, experience, etc.);

Subject (what the activity is aimed at);

Result

Thus, activity is a form of manifestation of the human being and the activity of the individual. An activity makes sense if it brings results or satisfies a particular need of people.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE CONCEPTS “LABOR” AND “WORK”

It is known that the successful development of production in modern conditions largely depends on the competitiveness of personnel. And it is achieved by constant training of the workforce, improving its qualifications, strategically determining the number of workers and professional guidance at a given moment and in a given production. Traditionally, in the domestic economic literature, the term “labor force” is understood as the ability to work of a certain quality.

Labor power is the physical and spiritual abilities of a person, which are used by him in the labor process to create goods or provide services. Labor power represents the potential ability to work, and labor itself is the functioning labor force (functioning ability).

The content of work largely determines the degree of a person’s satisfaction with his work and, as a consequence of this, often acts as one of the leading factors in the stability of production teams. The study of labor functions from the point of view of their content, creative richness, and variety of tasks to be solved assumes that the worker as a participant in the labor process acts as a carrier of information.

The continuous development of production and the introduction of the achievements of modern science cause a rapid growth in the need for qualified workers, increase the requirements for the quality of training of workers, and require additional costs. Now is the time when it is necessary to pay closer attention to systematic training, and especially to the retraining of qualified specialists. This will allow us to respond more quickly and effectively to socio-economic changes in the country.

Without a doubt, the issue of human resources is of a strategic nature for both large successful and small firms. At the same time, the personnel management system at most enterprises does not correspond to the strategy of market reforms, which significantly hinders the ability to implement programs of sustainable stabilization, revitalization of production and structural restructuring of the economy, improving the quality and competitiveness of Russian products. Domestic entrepreneurs need to learn that the organization’s personnel represent the main value, and this is the main thing in understanding the process of managing an organization.

Let us analyze the main aspects of the content of the concept “business organization”. The concept of “organization” can be defined as “a systematic, conscious association of people’s actions, pursuing the achievement of certain goals.” An organization cannot exist on its own, since its existence depends on the surrounding external environment, which influences everything that happens within the organization.

A business organization is an organization whose activities are aimed at creating added value through the production and sale of a product needed in the market. The success and financial condition of the organization depend on the quality of work of each person included in the organization, since the totality of the results obtained in the work forms the product that the organization provides to the external environment and on the quality of which the effective existence of the entire organization as a whole depends. Not a single organization will be able to form, much less exist, if its purpose is not defined - that for which it exists.

The definition of purpose can be given in two ways - for external observers, users of the organization's products and for employees involved in the functioning process. The main task of human resource management is the most effective use of employee abilities in accordance with the goals of the enterprise and society. The role of human resources in ensuring successful operations, competitiveness of the enterprise and products is extremely high. Thus, the quality of the product directly depends on both personnel and management. Product quality today is the most important condition for the competitiveness of an enterprise. By quality of work, the authors understand activities aimed at obtaining a high-quality result. Therefore, the quality of work is a process that occurs at the individual level, i.e. actions performed by a person to achieve goals in an organization.

To better understand the essence of the quality of work in an organization, let’s consider its content, organization and implementation. It should be noted that this study is limited to studying the content of work quality as a set of tasks and actions performed by an employee to achieve a quality result in his work.

The receipt by an organization of a certain product (result of activity) depends on many conditions. One of the main things is that each person in the organization performs certain work as an activity aimed at obtaining results. In addition, much depends on the chosen personnel management system and the personal qualities, experience and knowledge of managers. If management is carried out ineffectively, then even the most qualified personnel will not work with full efficiency, they will be used ineffectively.

The authors believe that the concept of “quality of work” should be separated from the concept of “function”. The function describes mainly the content side of the activity being performed. Work, in turn, includes not only the content, but also the executive side of the activity, as well as the organizational one. Actions, depending on the type of resource, can be combined under the concept of “function”. A function is a specific type of activity required to transform an individual resource into a total final product. In order for functions to be performed, they must be shared among people in the organization. Function means a specific action performed by a person or organization within the division of labor in society. Depending on the organization, its interaction with the external environment, the complexity and dynamism of the external environment, the number of functions may change. A. Fayol believed that any business organization is characterized by the presence of certain types of activities - functions. In total, he identified six functions: commercial, technical, security, financial, accounting and administrative.

The actions to create a specific product can be combined under the concept of “process”. There is another understanding of the process: a set of activities in which one or more types of resources are used as input, and as a result of this activity a product is created that is valuable to the consumer. In addition, the process is determined by a set of actions and operations aimed at obtaining results and is supported by the organization’s information system. Work in an organization combines the concepts of “function” and “process”; it can be represented as a set of tasks and operations that a person needs to perform to transform available resources into a created product. To create this product, the organization must transform existing resources. Activities for transforming resources - functions - can be divided into tasks depending on the product being created. In turn, the process of creating a product is divided into operations depending on the resources used. The totality of tasks and operations performed in an organization constitutes the work of the entire organization, which is divided among workers, taking into account the horizontal and vertical division of work. Thus, the content side of the work of an individual employee in an organization represents a certain set of tasks and operations. Let's look at the fundamental differences between labor and work.

• 1. The work is aimed at obtaining results. The result of the work is measurable and objective. The value of the work performed is determined by people in market relations. Labor is associated with the efforts made in the process of human activity. The assessment of these efforts is subjective.
• 2. The work has different characteristics (in terms of content) of the beginning and end of the cycle. In addition to the performers in the work, there is a source of work and recipients of the result. Work is divided according to goals, tasks, operations, the implementation of which leads to results. Labor as a process is homogeneous and has a detailed division into operations, techniques and movements. The source of labor is human activity, and the recipient of labor is the performer.
• 3. The process of performing work involves the use of equipment and technology to perform operations, solve problems and achieve goals. Labor is associated with human actions using available technology, precise and clear descriptions of what and where to do, actions are subject to the technological process and require mental and physical stress.
• 4. The human qualities required in work are determined by the specifics of the tasks being solved and the goals set. To perform the job, the employee’s actions must contain effort, perseverance, diligence, conscientiousness, direction, and initiative. Labor is associated with precise actions, movements and techniques in time.
• 5. The relationship between an employee and an organization is based on the exchange of results obtained in work - wages and products produced.
• 6. Work management includes the design of work, the construction of work relationships, the division of powers and responsibilities. Labor management is associated with costs, the need to compensate for efforts and the integrity of employees. Labor management at the organizational level comes down to its division and rationing, and the creation of working conditions. Labor organization allows you to save human and raw material resources and eliminate time wastage.

Labor management is of little use in a business organization due to the problem of its objective measurement and the lack of a direct relationship between labor and a specific result. But some of the results of work research, such as techniques and methods, may be useful to individual workers, since their use will improve individual productivity.

Thus, we can conclude that work is objectively measurable actions aimed at achieving a set goal. The concept of “labor” is associated with subjective judgments about the efforts expended by an individual in one direction or another. Work in the organization is very diverse in content. In this regard, it is advisable to consider various types of work and their classification according to the regulations for execution, the direction and comparability of the result, and the interaction of workers.

1. According to the work regulations. In regulated work, the employee’s actions are determined by the instructions given by the technology. When performing regulated work, an employee does not introduce elements of novelty and personal contribution into it. The results of regulated work are measured in quantitative terms and depend not so much on the individual abilities of the employee, but on the possibility of realizing these abilities in the existing regulations.

In innovative work, the employee’s actions are aimed at creating a new product, a previously unknown item, or developing a new production method. In this case, the obtained work result depends on the personality and professional potential of the employee and is manifested when he is used in the activities of the organization. Obtaining the result of innovative work is determined by creative abilities and depends on the employee himself.

• 2. According to the direction of the result. The results of the work are aimed at creating a product by the organization intended for a consumer or client outside the organization. Linear departments participate in the creation of a product: supply, production, sales, marketing, R&D. The results of the work are aimed at creating a product needed within the organization and are assessed based on changes in the organization’s activities. Results related to administration and organizational development are aimed at ensuring the activities of the organization.
• 3. By comparability and repeatability of the result. Functional work is associated with solving tasks of similar content, achieving identical goals and performing similar actions. The results obtained in the work have a time periodicity and are comparable to each other. Project work is associated with the execution and implementation of actions and tasks of different content aimed at achieving results. The content of the work changes significantly after each execution, there is no clear time periodicity, and the results are difficult to compare.
• 4. On the interaction of workers when performing work. Individual work is performed with a minimum degree of interaction between workers and high autonomy of their activities. Autonomy describes the extent to which a job provides the employee with freedom and independence in determining the work schedule and actions used to achieve the desired result. The amount of autonomy depends on the person.

Group work is carried out with the maximum degree of interdependence between workers. Obtaining results depends on the interaction of workers during the work process.

Obviously, the classification features reveal the substantive side of the work. The content of the work is a set of tasks and actions that must be performed to obtain results in the work. Differences between types of work show its qualitative characteristics and leave an imprint on the execution process. From the above it follows that the concept of “work” contains some duality. On the one hand, work has a substantive side - a set of tasks and actions. On the other hand, work as an activity aimed at obtaining a result is a process in which this result is created and the individual personal abilities and skills of the employee are manifested.

Let's consider work as a process to create a product. The entire process of performing work can be divided into separate stages performed by each employee, but at the same time, each stage of the work must preserve the type of process. This means that the worker receives the work, completes it, and passes it on down the chain. The performance of work in an organization by an individual employee is a process of transforming a resource into a product through the implementation of certain actions, the use of technology and the necessary methods.

Work can also be represented as an action that a worker needs to perform to complete it. In any work, even monotonous and manual work, it is possible to identify a cycle of actions during which an action is performed and work is performed.

Thus, the activities of performing work have a beginning, the actual execution of the work, and the completion of the work. The process of performing work, as a rule, is observable, and the actions of starting and completing it are hidden from observation, but, like the process of execution, they require internal effort and attention from the employee. In addition, work can be viewed as actions to create a result.

To create a result at work, the employee is required to take actions that are different in content and focus: preparing for work, performing the work and maintaining the result. It is a mistake to reduce work only to functional activities, since organizational activities are equally important. At the preparatory stage, the quality of work and productivity are laid down, and neglect to preserve and transfer the result of the work leads to its loss.

The work of every employee in an organization must include organizational mechanisms that promote coordination and interaction among workers. In the content of the work, three interrelated types of relationship building can be noted: authority, responsibility and control.

Authority consists of the employee's right to demand all necessary resources to perform the job. Responsibility lies in the actions that an employee performs to perform the job. Control is expressed in reporting on performance results and achievement of intended goals. Work as an object of management is the place where the united and coordinated efforts of three categories of workers are applied: performer, specialist and manager.

A contractor is a direct employee who ensures that specific work is performed and results are obtained. The specialist ensures the functionality and use of technology, and the connection of work into a single process. The manager divides the work between employees and coordinates the processes during their implementation.

Work is the result of the division of tasks available in the organization. Based on the nature of actions and required qualities, tasks in an organization are divided into three groups:

• 1) tasks, the implementation of which requires action according to the plan;
• 2) tasks related to solving problems and actions to prevent their occurrence;
• 3) tasks aimed at developing and improving the process of performing work and the result obtained.

For a systematic understanding of work and its content, it is necessary to consider the place of work in the organization. Based on the idea of ​​work as a process, the authors proposed diagrams of relationships between employees in an organization. The process of performing work occurs through the interaction of workers and managers who provide it. Work in an organization is a directed process from received resources to the final product. For a worker, this means there are two threads:

• input (resources needed to complete the work);
• output (obtained work results).

The actions necessary to perform the job become the basis for the requirements for the employee. The main document regulating the powers and actions of an employee, his relationships at work, is the job description. Relationships at work, in turn, are a necessary tool for solving problems that arise during the performance of work, as well as an element of organizational development.

The manager performs the following set of management functions:

• ensures the performance of work through managerial interaction with the employee;
• establishes rules and norms of behavior;
• provides the employee with authority and controls the performance of the work.

The job includes the actions of the worker, the tools used, and the methods used. From the point of view of the content of work, actions determine its executive side, tools reflect the technical side, and methods reflect the organizational side.

From the perspective of performing work, the employee’s actions are a reflection of his motivation, the tool used reflects his skills, and the methods reflect his existing knowledge. When performing work, it is important to distinguish the product from the result. The result of work is, as a rule, the very fact of a change in the state of any thing or group of objects, and a product should be understood as any object whose change in state was due to the actions of the worker. The result obtained in the work is a measure of the achievement of the goal set in the work. Another important aspect of an employee’s activity is that all work, activity and behavior in general are made up of specific actions that lead to a result. The reason for the employee’s impulses and actions is the goal he has conceived and set, his interest in doing his job.

In connection with the development of technology, the field of knowledge, and the increasing pace of changes in the external environment, work management becomes especially relevant. In order for an organization to achieve its goals and produce a product that is competitive in the market, each employee must have and perform a certain job. In order for work performance to lead the organization to its goals, management must manage the work in the organization.

To manage work, a certain set of methods is used that allow:

• create new works;
• know, measure and evaluate the existing state of work;
• influence the content and organizational side of the work;
• control the work process;
• get an idea of ​​the activities of each employee;
• have a document regulating the performance of work;
• know what qualities are needed to do the job. The founder of scientific management F. Taylor at the beginning of the 20th century. pointed to division of labor and work design as elements of the administration function, along with planning and distribution of responsibilities. Taylor's work is a task that must be completed by a worker or by the combined efforts of workers and management. The task explains in detail what must be done and how, and indicates the exact time for completing the work. Task plans are designed to ensure good and thorough work.

Among foreign researchers of the work, it is necessary to note F. Gilbert and L. Gilbert, who expanded the study of the work to the performer, his movements and the time spent. This made it possible to design rational methods of performing work and establish standards for working time. The first to raise the question of effective performance of work in an organization was G. Emerson. To increase productivity, he proposed twelve principles of work organization, some of which directly relate to the performance of work by the employee. One of the founders of the study of work in our country was A.K. Gastev. He viewed the work from the perspective of designing and organizing the workplace, learning to use new methods of doing work.

A revolutionary view of work as a result of activity was the concept of management by objectives by P. Drucker. Work is presented in the form of actions aimed at achieving goals, and “... a goal is nothing more than a declaration of the required result.” The logic of management by objectives requires:

• clear definition of goals or desired results of work;
• formation of real programs to achieve them;
• systems for assessing work parameters by measuring specific

results by stages of achieving the goals.

However, in this concept the actions to achieve goals and the employee’s motivation when performing work were not disclosed.

The modern way of presenting work in the form of a project is a concentration of advanced management concepts and theories, and the presence of the main attributes of work - goals, actions and results - shows the validity of such a comparison. Financial independence, time dependence, client assessment of quality, and flexibility make presenting work in the form of a project a promising direction for designing work in modern organizations. Work management is one of the important functions of management and takes into account not only the need to perform work, but also the capabilities of workers. The basic tools of job management include the following: analysis, design, description, specification, redesign, job value assessment and job description.

Job analysis is a procedure for objectively describing the job, its content, the employee's responsibilities and working conditions. Job analysis allows you to obtain information about existing work, assess its adequacy to the goals and objectives of the organization, and identify the reasons for the low level of work performance and potential. The work analysis is based on the following information:

• description of the work performed;
• requirements for actions and behavior at work;
• equipment and technologies used;
• working conditions, financial and non-financial incentives;
• knowledge, skills, personal qualities necessary to perform the job.

When analyzing work you must:

• 1) take into account the organizational level of work performance;
• 2) compare jobs with each other, with other jobs and their place in the organizational structure;
• 3) compare data with organizational aspects on issues of subordination and interaction in the work process;
• 4) monitor the continuity of the technological process of the work in question using the technological map.

The result of the job analysis is the basis for the following actions:

• drawing up requirements for the employee;
• justification of job responsibilities;
• determination of compensation, wages and bonuses;
• identifying organizational problems in performing work;
• justification for the need to redesign the work. Job design is the process of creating a specification

tasks for a specific employee in an organization, including the sequence of their solution, taking into account work relationships, interdependence with other tasks and the required result. Job design is one of the management tasks, the purpose of which is to design work in such a way that its implementation will lead to the achievement of the organization's goals. Design is aimed at creating work from a set of tasks and operations, the solution and implementation of which is necessary for the organization.

There are two main approaches to designing work in an organization. The first, the most common, is that based on the goals and functions of the organization, a job is first designed, and a person is selected for an already known and defined job. In the second approach, a person, his personal qualities and abilities are the basis for designing work. Depending on the approach to designing the work, the content and organizational side of the work will be different, but the structure of the work will retain the fundamental points.

Job evaluation is relative in nature because the job is evaluated in comparison with other jobs in the organization. The result of this process is a clear definition of the hierarchy of payment for work performed. Formal, systematic evaluation of a job determines its relative value in the organization and its corresponding reward. Personnel performance assessment has been and remains one of the most important areas of personnel management. It is designed to help identify ways to improve the performance of people working in an organization.

Currently, there is no single systematic approach to the interpretation of the concept of personnel assessment, its essence and meaning. Performance appraisal can be defined as the process of collecting and analyzing information about how employees perform their assigned functions and determining the extent to which their work behavior, performance and individual characteristics meet the requirements of the organization and management. Performance appraisal is also a process that involves identifying and communicating to the employee how he is performing and, ideally, developing a plan to improve his performance.

Research shows that regular and systematic personnel assessment has a positive effect on employee motivation, professional development and growth. At the same time, assessment results are an important element of human resource management, since they provide the opportunity to make informed decisions regarding remuneration, promotion, dismissal of employees, their training and development. There are several methods for evaluating work. For example, the factorial method: an objective assessment of the work is carried out for each factor, and the further summary assessment of the factors gives an overall rating of the work, which allows you to choose the appropriate tariff, an acceptable and fair amount of payment for the work performed.

A job description is the main document regulating the relationship between an employee and an organization. It is intended to inform the person holding the position about the tasks, distribution of rights and responsibilities, interaction with other people working in the organization, etc. Thus, a job description serves as an auxiliary means of managing people in an organization and regulates not only actions related to the performance of work, but also attitudes towards work. The job description must take into account the organizational structure, determine the employee’s purpose in the organization and thereby contribute to the building of management relations in the organization.

Thus, there are certain methods of managing work in an organization, with the help of which you can change not only the content of the work, but also its organizational side, and therefore the actions, responsibilities and interactions of employees at work. This will make it possible to achieve better compliance of the work performed in the organization with its goals.

Having properly designed work and selecting workers with the appropriate level of knowledge and skills, selected according to job requirements, does not guarantee the organization's success in achieving its goals. It is necessary to ensure that every employee in the organization gets the job done and gets the desired results. The work can be achieved economically, i.e. exchanging work results for monetary reward (piecework form of payment). Another way to ensure work is completed is for the employee to receive monetary compensation for the time spent on work. This form of ensuring work is performed is a variable form of payment.

There are certain standards for performing work and obtaining results. Completing work and obtaining a result are made up entirely of the employee’s actions, and the nature and sequence of these actions depend on the person, his plans and motivation. The process of obtaining results begins with the desires and needs of the employee, since the tool and technologies used only guide his activities and allow him to achieve greater success in his work.

According to V. Vroom's expectancy theory, work for a person is a means, an instrument for satisfying needs. From the standpoint of ensuring the fulfillment of work in the organization and obtaining high results, work should be a goal for the employee, which requires motivation of the employee by the work itself, especially since the characteristics of behavior that he needs to display are determined by the work and its content.

The role of the job execution manager in this case is not only to recruit the necessary people and motivate them, but also to make the work interesting for the employee and develop the qualities important for its performance. To do this, it is necessary to know and understand the needs and desires of the employee, what motivates him to action and what he strives for.

In relation to the activities of an employee in an organization, the characteristics of actions become important, but not in themselves, but in connection with the result obtained in the work. In other words, the employee must be interested in the result itself. At the same time, the work can be structured in such a way that the employee will try to do it better and achieve higher results, using existing knowledge, skills, and individual abilities.

The employee's direct interest in the result contributes to achieving a better result, and the ability to perform the work will form the necessary attitude and interest in it. As a rule, during the work process, only part of the employee’s capabilities is used, and not only the skills and experience, but also the employee’s needs change. As technology advances, the nature of work changes, requiring greater personal investment from the employee. Personal contribution to work is not only the use of knowledge and skills, but also the solution of emerging problems, preventing their occurrence, it is also the creation of new things in work, product development and interpersonal interaction at work. Despite the development of modern technology, the performance of work and the achievement of results directly depend on the employee, and for personal contribution and obtaining high results in unregulated work, motivation is necessary as an internal driving force for improving the quality of the workforce.

Rofe A.I. Scientific organization of labor. - M.: MIC, 1998.

Vikhansky O.S., Naumov A.I. Management. - M.: Gardariki, 1998.

Taylor F. Scientific organization of labor // Management is a science and an art. - M.: Republic, 1992.

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Peters T. Wow project // The Art of Management. 2000. No. 3. P. 44-57.

1. The concept of labor

At first glance, the answer to the question of what is considered work is obvious, because each of us encounters this concept every day. However, in the literature there is no clear and unambiguous definition of the concept of labor.

In everyday language, the word “labor” has several meanings, as reflected in the “Dictionary of the Russian Language” S.I. Ozhegova:"1) expedient human activity aimed at creating, with the help of production tools, material and spiritual values ​​necessary for people’s lives; 2) work, occupation; H) effort aimed at achieving something; 4) result of activity, work, work" 1 .

The Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary gives a slightly different interpretation of the concept of “labor”: this “expedient human activity aimed at modifying and adapting natural objects to satisfy one’s needs” 2 .

In the economic literature of the pre-perestroika period, the definition of labor given by K. Marx was widespread. Labor - “this is a process that takes place between man and nature, i.e., the purposeful activity of man, during which he, through his own activity, mediates, regulates and controls the exchange of substances between himself and nature, creates the necessary use values” 3 .

Based on Marx’s definitions, expanded interpretations of labor are given. For example, "...First of all, labor- this is the expedient activity of people to create goods and services, which must be effective, rational, and economically organized; secondly, it is one of the main conditions for the life of not only an individual, but also society as a whole, a factor in the functioning of any organization (enterprise); thirdly, it cannot be considered as a commodity, since the commodity is not itself, but the labor service, and, finally, in the labor process a system of social and labor relations is formed, which form the core of social relations at the level

________________

1 Ozhegov S.I. Dictionary of the Russian language. - M., 1985, p. 707.

2 Soviet encyclopedic dictionary. - M., 1981, p. 136.

3 Marx K, Engels F. Op. - 2nd ED., vol. 23, p. 188.

national economy, region, firm and individual" 4 . This is a rather cumbersome definition, which shows the features of labor as an object of research and study.

B.M. Genkin offers the following definition of labor: " Labor is the process of transforming natural resources into material, intellectual and spiritual benefits, carried out and (or) controlled by a person either under coercion (administrative, economic), or through internal motivation, or both." 5 . He highlights methods of attracting people to work, including non-economic.

Neoclassicists (for example, Marshall, Jevons) considered labor to be any effort made to achieve any result, and at the same time emphasized the painful, forced side of labor, in addition to the direct pleasure from the labor process itself.

“any mental and physical effort made partly or wholly for the purpose of achieving some result, other than the pleasure derived directly from the work itself. (Initially, this definition belongs to Jevons, although, as Marshall notes, the latter includes only painful efforts in the understanding of labor. See: Marshall A. Principles of Economic Science. - M., 1993. - Vol. 1. - P. 124).

In essence, it identifies labor activity and the work process - the expenditure of effort, or energy, by a person.

A universal understanding of labor according to K. Marx. In analyzing the essence of labor, Marx follows the principle ascent from the abstract to the concrete, from the universal to the particular and particular. Only with this approach is it possible to consistently identify both the most general aspects (attributes) that are always inherent in labor and characterize it at various stages of human history, as well as its special features at each historical stage, and, finally, the specificity of specific types and forms of labor.

Following this methodological principle, Marx originally considers labor as a “non-historical”, universal category (“labor in general”) and defines it as “primarily a process... in which a person, through his own activity, mediates, regulates and controls the exchange of substances between himself and nature”, as “a universal condition of exchange substances between man and nature, the eternal natural condition of human life." (Marx K. Capital. Volume one // Marx K., Engels F. Works. T. 23. - P. 188, 195). Here, labor is characterized as a way of human existence, a way of human life that is different from other living beings..

Essential for understanding the essence of labor is that labor characterizes the process man's transformation of nature(the surrounding world and one’s own nature) from the point of view the necessary participation of the person himself as a subject of labor who has consciousness and will. In a broad sense, work is expedient, materially transforming objective human activity. Material-transforming objective activity is a process during which a person, transforming nature, acts as an active subject, making the natural phenomena he masters the object of his activity.

Based on this abstract general understanding of labor, Marx fixes its most essential and necessary moments, somehow expediency, universality and permanence, versatility, creative character. Labor as a universal condition for the exchange of substances between man and nature is an integral condition of human life. It is the basis of life and development! person. The history of mankind shows that thanks to work, man stood out from the animal world. Influencing the environment and changing it, people, prompted by ever-increasing needs, develop their ability to work, enrich their knowledge, and expand the scope of their work activity.

Objective conditions of existence encourage a person to work. Labor in this sense does not depend on any specific form of organization of social life, i.e. it, as the relationship of man to nature, is the same for all social forms, for all methods of production, for any social system.

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4 Labor Economics and Social and Labor Relations / Ed. G.G. Melikyan and R.P. Kolosova. - M., 1996, p. 10.

5 Genkin B.M. Economics and sociology of labor. - M., 1998. p. 7.

Substance of labor. In the economic literature on labor issues one can sometimes find such a concept as "substance of labor" In general the term "substance" means, firstly, the essence, that which underlies; secondly, that which exists on its own and does not depend on anything else. 6 Back in the 20s of the 20th century, speaking about the substance of labor, A.A. Bogdanov pointed out that this is the cost of the human brain and nerves. muscles, sense organs, blood and energy in the labor process. 7 Some modern authors believe that the substance of labor is the energy consumed by the human body in the process of labor in a certain purposeful form, that the interpretation of the substance of labor as the expenditure of human organs is scientifically untenable and it is high time for economists to part with such ideas long ago. Energy, of course, is spent through human organs over time, but this does not give reason to represent one or the other as a substance of labor. 8

Elements of labor. Mandatory elements of labor are labor and means of production.

Work force- this is the totality of a person’s physical and spiritual abilities that are used by him in the labor process. This is the main productive force of society. 9 There are other interpretations of the concept" work force". Often this term is used to refer to the economically active population or workers employed in an enterprise or firm.

Means of production consist of objects of labor and means of labor.

Objects of labor- these are products of nature that undergo certain changes and turn into use values. Objects of labor include the earth and its subsoil, flora and fauna, raw materials and supplies, energy and information flows, etc.

Means of labor- these are tools of labor (machines, instruments, equipment, tools, etc.), with the help of which a person acts on objects of labor, as well as other means of labor (industrial buildings, communications, etc.).

Labor process- is the process of combining and consuming labor and means of production in order to create new use values. The labor process is carried out in a certain environment, which is characterized by different working conditions. Moreover, the labor process is not just a mechanical connection of its basic elements, but their organic unity, and the decisive factor

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6 SEE: Soviet encyclopedic dictionary. P. 1294.

7 SEE: Economics and sociology of labor. - Izhevsk, 1997, p. 42.

8 Economics and sociology of labor, p. 45.

9 Marx K., Engels F. Soch. - 2nd ed., vol. 23, p. 178.

The factor here is the person. In the process of labor, a person, with the help of means of labor, carries out pre-planned changes in the subject of labor. The result of the labor process is product of labor.

Attributes of labor as an activity. Work is a human activity that has the following properties:

1) awareness of actions. This means that before starting to work, a person will create a project in his mind, i.e. mentally imagine the result of labor. For example, as a commodity producer, he determines what products, in what quantities and when should be produced. Unconscious, instinctive actions are not labor. To illustrate this, Karl Marx compared the actions of an architect and the actions of a bee. The worst architect, noted K. Marx, differs from the best bee from the very beginning in that before he builds a cell from wax, he has already built it in his head. The bee performs its actions instinctively;

2) expediency of actions. After a project has been created, a person thinks through a model of action, and then begins to implement previously developed intentions. In our example, this means how these products should be produced, using what resources, using what technology;

H) effectiveness of actions. Any activity ends with a certain result, but work is characterized not just by a result, but by a socially useful result, and therefore work must also have the property indicated below;

4) social usefulness of actions. People produce goods not alone, not in isolation from each other, but together, united in work collectives or on the basis of more or less strong contacts with each other. They produce these benefits for themselves and for society;

5) energy consumption of actions. This is manifested in the fact that a certain physical and mental energy is spent on work activities ( Job).

The difference between “Labor” and “work”. They are not equivalent or identical concepts. Labor by its nature is a social activity due to its creative role in the life of society and human involvement in social results. Specific work activity is at the same time an activity during which people enter into certain connections and relationships with each other. Labor is inherent only to man as a social being. Work is a concept that has a more physical meaning. It can be performed by a person, a machine, or an animal. Labor has a time characteristic and is measured by working time (but here we already have reduction to work). Work is measured in natural units - kilograms, meters, pieces, etc.

Characteristics of a person as a subject of labor. Any human activity is based on his legal capacity, performance And ability to work. Capacity (ability to act) characterizes human activity from the qualitative side. In the process of labor, a person is capable of limitlessly creating material and spiritual values, setting various goals for himself and achieving them in various ways. The endless variety of all this is a consequence of the complex structure of the human body. Thus, legal capacity is This is a person’s ability to “qualitatively different types of purposeful activities, the ability to realize their infinite variety.

However, a person cannot solve assigned tasks without using his ability to work, i.e. the ability to perform an action or work. If the body did not have such an ability, then all its performing and creative functions would remain unfulfilled. This can be compared to illumination, when the image is instantly lost as soon as electric current stops flowing to the bulbs, although the connection diagram of these bulbs remains the same.

Efficiency characterizes the quantitative side of a particular human activity. Thanks to it, it becomes possible to perform the action itself and obtain its result in quantitative terms.

In turn, performance itself is characterized by various indicators. Economic indicators include the number of products produced for each hour of work (hourly labor productivity), average time (per hour or half an hour of work) per unit of production, the number of defective products by hours of work, etc. In addition to economic indicators, performance is also characterized by changes in physiological functions, such as a change in heart rate, speed of visual reaction after each hour of work, etc.

Efficiency is not a constant value, but changes during different periods of working time (day, day, week) under the influence of a number of factors: the nature of the work, the employee’s length of service, his habit of working systematically, the degree of mastery of work skills, etc. The graphical representation of individual types of work corresponds their curves of changes in performance during the working day. There are several types of such curves. However, most jobs during the working day are characterized by a typical performance curve, which has three phases: the workability phase (I), the sustained performance phase (II) and the fatigue phase (III) (Fig. 1).

The first phase is characterized by low levels of performance. During this period, the activity of all physiological organs and systems of a person is restructured in accordance with the actions he performs. Coordination of movements gradually improves, their accuracy and speed increase, perception improves, the optimal working posture is selected, and the functioning of the respiratory and circulatory systems is established at the required level. According to Academician A. A. Ukhtomsky, during this period the formation of " working dominant", those. setting up various nerve centers that regulate the activity of physiological

systems, to the form of activity and to the speed of nervous reactions that are necessary for the longest work activity. The duration of this phase can range from several minutes to one and a half hours.

Rice. 1. Typical performance curve

After completion of the work-in phase, the human body enters the so-called stable working state. During this period, a person achieves maximum results with minimal time investment. This condition is for most types of professional activity, except for work associated with excessive stress or taking place under exceptional conditions. can be maintained for several hours, usually two to three hours.

After this, a decrease in the level of performance is observed: the person’s attention is scattered, movements slow down. the number of errors increases. All this indicates increasing fatigue. Fatigue is a set of physiological processes that arise as a result of prolonged and intense work and lead to a temporary decrease in performance. The state of fatigue is usually accompanied by a characteristic sensation, which is designated by the word "fatigue". Fatigue goes away during rest, if the duration is sufficient. Usually, at the time when fatigue sets in and rest is needed, a lunch break is timed.

After a lunch break, the human body again goes through these three phases. But now the start-up phase ends faster than at the beginning of the working day, the steady-state phase is usually shorter in duration and lower in

level than before lunch, and the period of fatigue is longer, and it increases with greater depth than before lunch.

Due to the established daily periodicity of life activity in different periods of time, the human body reacts differently to physical and neuropsychic stress, and its performance fluctuates in a certain way during the day. In accordance with the daily cycle, the highest level of performance is observed in the morning and afternoon hours from 9 to 20 hours. In the evening hours, a person’s performance is still at a high level. At this time of day, a person has great potential to ensure productivity with minimal fatigue. At the same time, work in the evening hours begins with a certain layer of fatigue caused by previous wakefulness and everyday stress. Night work, disrupting the biological rhythm, contradicts physiological laws and is unnatural for humans. In fluctuations in performance during the day, there are two minimums (about 2-3 a.m. and 3 p.m.) and two maximums (about 8-9 a.m. and 6 p.m.).

A person’s performance during the week is also not stable. In the first days of the week it increases, reaching its highest level on the third day (Wednesday), then gradually decreases, falling sharply by the sixth day - Saturday.

The concepts of “work capacity” and “work capacity” should not be confused. Work ability reflects the ability to participate in work in general. If a person is able to work, he is able to work. In turn, loss of ability to work means that a person is completely unable to perform work or that work is contraindicated for him due to health reasons.

A person begins his life being completely helpless. Over time, he matures, develops physically and spiritually, gains strength, knowledge, and skills. From a dependent he turns into a worker and becomes able to work. By old age, the ability to work is lost. You can also lose your ability to work temporarily (in whole or in part) as a result of illness or injury. Premature loss of ability to work, as well as a decrease in working capacity, reduces the labor resources of society and negatively affects labor productivity.

Classification of types of labor. There are different types of work, and all their diversity can be classified according to the following criteria: by the content of labor, by the nature of labor, by the results of labor, by the material elements of labor used and the varying degrees of participation of a person, by methods of attracting people To labor.

Labor process , from the point of view of labor content, there is the interaction of a person with tools and objects of labor, a kind of repetition of labor cycles, each of which ends with the production of a specific product. The following functions are distinguished in this process: 1) logical, associated with determining the goal and preparing the labor process: 2) performing, those. activation and direct impact on the subject of work; 3) registration and control function, those. monitoring the technological process, the progress of the planned program; 4) regulation function, those. correction, clarification of a given program.

1) simple and complex work. According to K. Marx’s definition, simple labor " is the expenditure of simple labor power, which on average the bodily organism of every ordinary person, not distinguished by special development, possesses" 10 . This is work that does not require special professional training from the worker; unskilled labor and complex labor are “only raised to a power or rather multiplied simple labor." One hour of complex labor, as a rule, contains several hours of simple labor, therefore skilled workers create more value per unit of time than unskilled ones;

2) reproductive and creative labor. Reproductive labor is labor that is reproduced, known in advance, and does not contain creative principles, and creative labor is constructive labor, an activity in the process of which something qualitatively new, inimitable, original, and unique is created. The results of creative work depend on the abilities for this type of creativity, passion for the work, its importance, conditions, etc.;

3) functional and professional work. At each enterprise (firm), groups of workers are formed, depending on their role in production and in accordance with the functions that they perform. each function is associated with one or another aspect of the activity necessary for the normal operation of the enterprise. The tasks solved by each functional group are quite specific. Such work is usually called functional.

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10 Marx K., Engels: F. Soch. - 2nd ed., T. 23, p. 53.

Functional labor is labor that differs in the composition and nature of the functions performed (for example, production, engineering, management, scientific, etc.). Within each group, labor differs according to individual professions and specialties (for example, process engineer, design engineer, organizational engineer, standards engineer);

4) mental and physical labor. Physical labor is the expenditure of physical energy. Mental labor is expressed in the fact that the idea of ​​creating one or another use value arises in the human brain, a person thinks through a plan for the implementation of this idea, and makes sure that his plan is realized in the process of physical labor. The division of labor into mental and physical is quite arbitrary. This convention was noted by S. G. Strumilin: “We usually contrast two types of labor: physical and mental. And physiology, by its definition, tells us that there are no sufficient grounds for such a opposition. Work- this is a single neuromuscular process, no muscular work is conceivable without the corresponding activity of the neuro-cerebral pathways and centers, and, conversely, any, even the most abstract, mental work is inevitably accompanied by muscular activity, even in the form of very weak, delayed reflexes". 11 Therefore, we can only talk about the predominance of mental or physical functions in work.

The nature of labor shows how labor manifests itself, what its features, characteristics, distinctive properties and features are. It depends on the connection of the worker with the means of production and determines the social nature of labor. Currently, changes are taking place in the nature of labor, due to the improvement of production relations as a result of the denationalization of socialist property and privatization, the expansion of the scope of economic management methods, the creation of new forms of management that focus on efficiency and quality, the real material and moral interest of workers, turning them into genuine owners. At the same time, it is the deep socio-economic differences in the content and functions of labor, the presence of routine, monotonous, unskilled, heavy manual labor, its harmful conditions for a long time that will hinder the development of the creative abilities of a significant part of workers, interfere with the harmonious development of the individual, the education of a conscious and creative attitude towards work.

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11 Strumilin S.G. Selected works. vol. 3: Problems of labor economics. - M., 1964, p. 9-10.

Depending on thenature of work differentiate:

1) concrete and abstract work. As a special purposeful human activity aimed at modifying and adapting objects of nature to meet his needs, labor appears in a certain useful form, and its result is various use values. The labor aimed at their creation is called concrete labor. Bringing various specific types of labor to an identical and commensurate form presupposes the need to abstract from qualitative features, to reduce individual types of labor to simple labor costs, to labor costs in the physiological sense - to the costs of physical, nervous and other energy. This impersonal, homogeneous and commensurate labor is called abstract labor. Concrete labor creates use value, and abstract labor creates the value of the commodity;

2) hired labor and self-employment. Wage labor is a relationship that arises between the owners of the means of production and workers who are personally free, but do not have the means of production and sell their forthcoming labor (their labor power) in exchange for a certain value in the form of wages. Wage labor is labor alienated from itself, since the wealth it creates is opposed as someone else's wealth. At the same time, the hired worker is the owner of his labor power, and as the labor force develops, the personal property of the worker and his family also increases. At the same time, an entrepreneur who has opened his own business creates an opportunity to apply his labor, which can be called self-employment, and the nature of this labor will be qualitatively different from the nature of hired labor. It is this kind of work that provides an opportunity for the development of a person’s initiative, promotes a careful, masterful attitude towards property, the formation of such qualities as independence, entrepreneurship, and the manifestation of creative abilities;

In economic and other specialized literature there is no clear, much less unambiguous, definition of labor.

Most often, the concept of work is used as a broad term to denote all physical and mental abilities. of people used in the production of goods and services. In this sense, any work, any type of activity is covered by the general concept of “labor”.

From the point of view of socio-economic essence, as a scientific category. Labor is a conscious, purposeful activity of people aimed at modifying and adapting objects of the external environment in order to create material and spiritual benefits necessary to meet the needs of each individual and society as a whole.

Labor is a human activity, people, that has three main characteristics: awareness of actions, energy consumption, and the presence of a useful, socially recognized result.

Awareness means that a person first created a project, a model of action in his mind, and then began to implement previously developed intentions. Based on this criterion, then unconscious, instinctive actions are not labor. Based on such ideas, it is legitimate to believe that only a person can apply conscious labor efforts, that is, work.

Energy consumptionlabor manifests itself in the fact that additional physical and mental energy is spent on work activities. That is, in addition to the expenditure of energy on the maintenance and reproduction of the body’s vital functions. Work This is work that requires significant effort and significant energy expenditure.

Finally, work is characterized by effectiveness. Any activity ends with a certain result and has a certain outcome. Sometimes they say that the very fact of the presence of actions, the process of their implementation, is the result. So, work is characterized not just by a result, but by a socially useful result. Labor “for oneself” differs from “work for others” only in that the second type of labor must be paid for by others, by society.

A certain difficulty in applying the third criterion of labor is due to the ambiguous interpretation of the term “socially recognized result”, because the same result in one situation can be considered necessary, but in another – useless. But this is the task of society, the state, and their institutions - to determine which results of activity are useful, necessary, fruitful, have social and personal value, and what is not in demand by society and has no social utility.

Thus, labor is the exclusive property of man. Before starting to work, a person mentally imagines the result of labor, then in the process of labor he realizes his conscious goal, which, like a law, determines the method and nature of his actions and which he must subordinate his will to.

Labor activity not only changes the external environment and nature, it also changes the person himself. In the process of work, a person improves his physical and spiritual abilities, accumulates production experience, and enriches his knowledge.

Labor as a universal condition for the exchange of substances between man and nature is an integral condition of human life. It is the basis of human life and development. The history of mankind shows that thanks to work, man stood out from the animal world.

It is known that the objective conditions of life and existence encourage a person to work. Labor in this sense does not depend on any specific form of organization of social life, that is, it is the relationship of man to nature, which is the same for all social forms, for all methods of production, for any social system.

"Work" And "Job" are not equivalent or identical concepts. Labor by its nature is social labor due to its creative role in the life of society and human involvement in social results. After all, specific work activity is at the same time an activity during which people enter into certain connections and relationships with each other. Therefore, labor is inherent only to man. “Work” is a concept that has a physical meaning. It can be performed by a person, a machine, or an animal. Labor has a temporal characteristic and is measured by working time. Work is measured in natural units - kilograms, meters, pieces, etc.

In the economic literature on labor issues one can sometimes come across such a concept as “substance of labor”. In general, the term “substance” means, firstly, the essence, that which underlies; secondly, that which exists on its own and does not depend on anything else.

For many years in the specialized literature, the substance of labor was understood as the expenditure of nerves, muscles, sensory organs, etc. in the labor process. In other words, the substance of labor is the energy consumed by the human body in the process of labor in a certain purposeful form. This interpretation of this category seems to be the most acceptable, since energy is naturally spent through human organs in space and time, which gives grounds to represent it as the substance of labor.

Mandatory elements are expedient activity, or the most labor, object of labor And means of labor.

Subject of labor- a substance of nature that a person acts on during the labor process in order to adapt it for personal or industrial consumption. An object of labor that has already been exposed to human influence and is intended for further processing is raw material (raw material).

This difference exists because not every raw material is always an object of labor. Thus, a coal seam in a mine, ore or oil in the depths is an object of labor, but not a raw material, since they have not yet been exposed to human labor.

Mined coal, ore or oil intended for processing are already raw materials and, as such, the subject of further work.

This does not mean that any substance of nature is the subject of labor. The substance of nature only becomes the subject of labor when labor influences it.

In addition to the labor itself and the subject of labor, the process of producing material goods involves another important element - the means of labor.

Means of labor- these are the material elements through which a person influences the object of labor. These are, first of all, tools of labor (machines, mechanisms, equipment, etc.), whose mechanical, physical and chemical properties are used by humans in accordance with their purpose. The means of labor in a broader sense also include all material conditions of labor, such as, for example, the universal means of labor - land, without which the production process cannot be improved at all, as well as production buildings, structures, roads and other means of communication, an extensive infrastructure of social production etc.