Do you really think that pay rises that do not in any way make up for money lost due to pay freezes or restrictions due to austerity are really going to make people “work harder”? Most pay rises are to match inflation, to keep up with market rates or to recognise past unfairness or, very occasionally, as a bonus to reward good performance in the short term.
As someone who used to be involved in negotiating pay awards I know that they are not a way to increase productivity just by getting workers to “work harder”.
Sustainable productivity improvements come from improving organisations’ systems, structures and staff relations i.e. working smarter not just by exhorting them to “work harder”.