Hawthorne Studies Elton Mayo’s Study on Employee Motivation and Work Productivity Developed by: Melissa Mackay Boise State University

What Will Be Covered Definition of the Hawthorne Studies Experiment that Mayo conducted Results Conclusions Brainstorming: How this can be used in organizations

What Will Be Covered Cont. Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of topic How it works in the field Real World Example Summary References

Definition of Hawthorne Studies “The Hawthorne Studies were conducted from 1927-1932 at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago, where Harvard Business School Professor Elton Mayo examined productivity and work conditions.” The studies grew out of preliminary experiments at the plant from 1924-1927 on the effect of light and productivity. Those experiments showed no clear connection between productivity and the amount of illumination but researchers began to wonder what kind of changes would influence output.

Definition of Hawthorne Studies Cont. “Mayo wanted to find out what effect fatigue and monotony had on job productivity and how to control them through such variables as rest breaks, work hours, temperatures and humidity.” http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthrone_02.html

Mayo’s Experiment Five women assembled telephone relays, one supplied the parts. Made frequent changes in working conditions with their consent. Records were kept of relays made, temperature and humidity of rooms, medical and personal histories, eating and sleeping habits, and bits of conversation on the job. No one supervised the girls. They were told to work as they felt and at a comfortable pace. Telephone relays - a small mechanism of about forty parts which had to be assembled and dropped in a chute when completed. Changes made were temperature and humidity of the rooms, hours worked in a week and in a day, the number of breaks they received, and when they ate their lunch.

Mayo’s Experiment Cont. Productive capacity was measured by recording the girls’ output for two weeks before the study began. First five weeks, no changes were made. Third stage, a pay system was ensured allowing the girls’ to earn in proportion to their efforts. Eight weeks later, two five-minute rest pauses were added. By adding a pay system this centralized the girls’ financial interest on the study. The two added rest pauses were at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. They then were given a light lunch in the pauses.

Mayo’s Experiment Cont. Eighth phase, workday ended a half-day early. Ninth phase, the girls finished an hour earlier than usual. Five-day week introduced. Girls went back to no breaks, lunches and a full work week, output declined for those twelve weeks. which ran through the summer of 1928. Introduction of five day week lasted through the summer of 1928.

Results Researchers found that output rates weren’t directly related to the physical conditions of the work. Output went up when: They were put on piece-work for eight weeks. Two five minute rest pauses were introduced for five weeks. Rest pauses were lengthened to ten minutes. A hot meal was supplied during first pause. They were dismissed at 4:30 p.m. instead of 5:00 p.m. As the girls went from one phase to the next, output rate increased. At a forty eight hour week, the girls produced 2,400 relays a week each.

Results Cont. Output slightly fell when six five minute pauses were added. It remained the same when they were dismissed at 4:00 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m. Mayo believes “what actually happened was that six individuals became a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to cooperation in the experiment. The consequence was that they felt themselves to be participating freely and without afterthought, and were happy in the knowledge that they were working without coercion from above or limitations from below.” The girls complained that the six five minutes pauses interrupted their work rhythm. Once they were put back to normal working hours and everything, the highest output was recorded, averaging 3000 relays a week. http://courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417-reshef/mayo.htm

Conclusions Work is a group activity. Social world for an adult is primarily patterned about work. Need for recognition, security and sense of belonging. Complaints, commonly a symptom manifesting disturbance of an individual’s status position. The need for recognition, security and sense of belonging is more important in determining workers’ morale and productivity than physical conditions of the work place.

Conclusions Cont. Attitudes and effectiveness are conditioned by social demands. Informal groups at work are strong social controls over the work habits and attitudes of a worker. Change from established society to adaptive society. Group collaboration. Changing from an established society in the home to an adaptive society in the work plant resulting from the use of new techniques tends to disrupt the social organization of a work plant and industry. Group collaboration must be planned and developed. If it is achieved the human relations within a work plant may reach a cohesion which resists the disrupting effects of adaptive society.

Brainstorming: How this can be used in organizations Cooperation and communication with coworkers. Rearrange/reorganize job functions. Create an atmosphere of working as a team. Workers have a strong need for cooperation and communication with coworkers, by first recognizing this, the organization can then brainstorm ideas in order to rearrange/reorganize the job functions in such a way that workers feel that they are working with a team.

Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of Topic Interviewing Provide insight to workers moral, their likes and dislikes and how they felt about their bosses. Interviewing was due to the development of two things; the need for closer attention to employee-supervisor relations and the training of supervisors.

Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of Topic Cont. Role of Supervisor Retained the responsibility of making sure that their workers reached production levels, should lead their workers. By redefining the role of the supervisors, researchers felt that it would increase employee moral and hence production. By training supervisors the goal is to transform the relationships of power and subordination.

Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of Topic Cont. Management Need to gain active support and participation from workers, while maintaining managerial control. Be patient with workers, listen to them, and avoid creating emotional upsets. By gaining the support and participation of workers, then management won’t have to worry so much about their workforce becoming unionized and slowing down production. With implementing teamwork, it allows better communication and cooperation. Workers are able to have a sense of feeling that they are achieving something as a whole and are able to put in their insights into the project.

Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of Topic Cont. Teamwork Cooperation, communication, sense of belonging. “Man’s desire to be continuously associated in work with his fellows is a strong, if not the strongest, human characteristic. Any disregard of it by management or any ill-advised attempt to defeat this human impulse leads instantly to some form of defeat for management itself.” With implementing teamwork, it allows better communication and cooperation. Workers are able to have a sense of feeling that they are achieving something as a whole and are able to put in their insights into the project. http://couses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417-reshef/mayo.htm

How it Works in the Field Aspects of Hawthorne Studies Workers Management Motivation Productivity In trying to implement the aspects of the Hawthorne Studies, the relationship between workers and management has to be looked at. Once this is done, then ways to motivate the employees can be brought into play. If there is motivation then productivity should increase.

How it Works in the Field Cont. Workers Insights, suggestions, likes and dislikes, moral, training. Management Transfer of power to workers, knowing their workers. Workers are the ones who are actually performing the jobs, therefore they may have some very good insights in which to improve the quality and rate of production of the product. Once management entrusts their workers with some power to make decisions, then workers feel they are helping the process more. When managers know their employees, then it should be easier to create some motivation.

How it Works in the Field Cont. Motivation Incentives to increase productivity and quality. Productivity By increasing the output rate and keeping costs down, the company will be able to increase profits. Different motivations can involve an increase in pay, benefits, rewards, or even recognition of a job well done. If motivation can be achieved then productivity can increase, allowing the company to make a better profit, which they can then share with the employees, allowing them to see what their efforts have accomplished.

Real World Example Swedish Case Pay system didn’t fit the structure of jobs and organization. Two years later an incentive system was added, productivity went up 45%. A piecework system was discarded for an hourly wage. The result was a failure, performance went down and turnover went up. Financial incentive to perform well was gone, as well as the positive effect which the system had on scheduling. With the new incentive, not only did productivity increase, but turnover dropped to a lower level than before the piece rate plan was dropped.

Real World Example Cont. Swedish Case New incentive system provided motivation through tying cooperation and teamwork. The cooperation and teamwork was needed to make the new approach to job and organization design work effectively.

Exercise Brainstorm ideas that can motivate employees to increase productivity and find ways to implement them. Think of more efficient ways in which a process can be completed and who you might go to in order to find this out. In order to be able to come up with incentives that will motivate employees to increase productivity, first the managers need to know what the employees would like. Some employees could be motivated by more money, trips, vacation, or more benefits. On the other hand, some employees may just want to be recognized that they are doing a job well done. This can be accomplished by rewards or recognition dinners, etc. To find out more efficient ways to complete a product, usually the employees doing the production are most knowledgeable in finding more efficient ways in production. Depending on the kind of production that is set up, in some instances decreasing space, lag time, and increasing communication and cooperation among employees can make things more efficient.

Summary Hawthorne Studies dealing with worker motivation and work productivity. Increase communication and cooperation among coworkers. The Hawthorne Studies involved many aspects of an organization. Elton Mayo concentrated on the human relations aspect of a work environment. Through studies such as the Relay Assembly Test and others he came to the conclusion that by increasing communication and cooperation among coworkers it will increase the productivity level.

Summary Cont. Motivation can cause an increase in productivity Involve employees in decision making. Create a sense of belonging by creating teams. With feeling like they are working towards something, such as an incentive or feeling like they are part of a team can increase one’s level of output. By allowing workers to be involved in making decisions they will feel that they are part of the production process and not just a tool. When they feel that they have done a job well done, they will be satisfied and want to achieve that feeling of accomplishment once again.

References “Man and Work in Society.” Edited by Eugene Louis Cass and Frederick G. Zimmer. 1975. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. “Manufacturing Knowledge, A History of the Hawthorne Experiments.” Richard Gillespie. 1952. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. http://courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417-reshef/mayo.html http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthorne_02.html