Bryce Ward, Senior Economist, Quoted in the Oregonian

Posted on September 21, 2012 in Labor, Employment, & Workforce Development by Ann Hollingshead

Dr. Ward addresses preferences, productivity, and employee satisfaction.

In the recent article "More firms investing in employee satisfaction," the Oregonian quotes Dr. Bryce Ward, ECONorthwest senior economist, in a commentary about worker satisfaction. The article asks whether or not a happy workforce will improves productivity and lower turnover for employers.

In the article, Dr. Ward speaks to whether or not a worker's bad day can affect the overall productivity of a company.

"If I just make it up some other day, then the total output may not have changed," says Dr. Ward in the Oregonian.

In the article, Dr. Ward also notes that if "demand for the company's product exists, then workers will still find a way to fulfill it."

He concludes that one way worker satisfaction can impact employers is if morale falls to such a low level it prompts employees to leave en masse. This is particularly true in industries with low-wage jobs, but high training costs. "If you can lower that turnover cost, that will have a big effect on the company's bottom line," Dr. Ward said.

The rest of the article is available from the Oregonian.

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Bryce Ward holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and specializes in natural resource and labor economics. Bryce has taught courses in Labor Economics, Microeconomic Theory, Public Finance, Econometrics, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, and Social Economics at Harvard College, Lewis and Clark College, Portland State University, and the University of Oregon.