EDMONTON, Alberta, June 17 (UPI) -- A Canadian researcher suggests placing a faster worker among slower ones can improve workplace productivity.

Ken Schultz, a management-science researcher at the University of Alberta, analyzed production-line data from a General Motors plant. The study, published in the journal Management Science, found an individual's performance level may have a direct effect on what becomes "a good day's work" for slower workers.


In his analysis of the production-line data, Schultz found changing production lines to introduce a higher-performing worker to an average or lower-than-average performing line, results in increased productivity for the whole line.

"You'd look for the person who's a good performer but doesn't react to others around him; that's the person you want to move to the low-level team," Schultz said in a statement. "There's a good chance he's going to be a person who has proven to be a leader."

However, the key is to arrange the work area so workers are facing each other when performing tasks, Schultz said.