An Integrated Approach to Examine of Labour Productivity: Actual State and Perspektives of Research

Abstract

The problem of low labour productivity is a «chronic» problem for Russia. At the same time, some Rus-sian enterprises increase productivity successfully implementimg to the «rational model of labor rela-tions» implementation. The authors assume that the problem of increasing labour productivity is transdis-ciplinary, and psychology of personality and social psychology should play a significant role in finding the solution to this problem. The working hypothesis of this research is that there are statistically signifi-cant differences in personality traits and professional motivation that determine the specific style of activ-ity of employees of enterprises with different labour productivity. In order to test this hypothesis the au-thors did a study in the summer–autumn of 2018 at two industrial enterprises of the Perm Krai. The study has showed that there are practically no significant differences between the personality traits of the em-ployees who work at the enterprises, and the levels of labour productivity. The only exception is the fac-tor «Openness to Experience» that makes a distinction between the employees of enterprises which might be attributed to specificity of the production processes at these two plants and also to specificity of the sample. It is possible that absence of significant differences between the personality traits of the employ-ees of these enterprises evidences that labour productivity is mainly determined by specific social ties in professional groups. So, the first version of the working hypothesis is not confirmed. It is possible that as-signment of roles and responsibilities, as well as the styles of communication and administration are the predictors of labour productivity.