Performance and strain in short-cycled repetitive work.

The present study is an attempt to assess and compare the job related perceived effort and some forms of strain of 20 high and 20 low performance female subjects doing short cycled repetitive work. Their task consists of feeding machines with tobacco leaves for wrapping and finishing cigars. The results, quite unexpectedly, show that the high performance subjects spend more effort and experience a greater degree of strain as compared to the low performance subjects. It seems that the high performers are subjecting themselves to more stress and strain to earn a higher rate of bonus because they are less satisfied with their pay. One possible step to solve this problem might be the readjustment of the bonus system. Another step might be the adaptation of the cycle time of the machine to the differences in speed skill of the workers.