Hawthrone Studies

Hawthorne StudiesElton Mayos Study on Employee Motivation and Work Productivity

Tuesday, January 21, 20141EEIMWhat Will Be CoveredDefinition of the Hawthorne Studies

Experiment that Mayo conducted

Results

Conclusions

Brainstorming: How this can be used in organizationsTuesday, January 21, 20142EEIMWhat Will Be Covered Cont.Nuts and Bolts: Explanation of topic

How it works in the field

Real World Example

Summary

ReferencesTuesday, January 21, 20143EEIMDefinition of Hawthorne StudiesThe 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.Tuesday, January 21, 20144EEIM4The 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.EEIMDefinition 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.

Tuesday, January 21, 20145Mayos ExperimentFive 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.Tuesday, January 21, 20146EEIM6Telephone 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.Mayos 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.

Tuesday, January 21, 20147EEIM7By 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.Mayos 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.Tuesday, January 21, 20148EEIM8which ran through the summer of 1928.Introduction of five day week lasted through the summer of 1928.ResultsResearchers found that output rates werent 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.Tuesday, January 21, 20149EEIM9As 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.EEIMResults 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.Tuesday, January 21, 20141010The 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.ConclusionsWork 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 individuals status position.

Tuesday, January 21, 201411EEIM11The 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.Tuesday, January 21, 201412EEIM12Changing 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 organizationsCooperation and communication with coworkers.

Rearrange/reorganize job functions.

Create an atmosphere of working as a team.Tuesday, January 21, 201413EEIM13Workers 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 TopicInterviewingProvide insight to workers moral, their likes and dislikes and how they felt about their bosses.

Tuesday, January 21, 201414EEIM14Interviewing 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 SupervisorRetained the responsibility of making sure that their workers reached production levels, should lead their workers.Tuesday, January 21, 201415EEIM15By 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.ManagementNeed to gain active support and participation from workers, while maintaining managerial control.Be patient with workers, listen to them, and avoid creating emotional upsets.Tuesday, January 21, 201416EEIM16By gaining the support and participation of workers, then management wont 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.EEIMNuts and Bolts: Explanation of Topic Cont.TeamworkCooperation, communication, sense of belonging.Mans 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.Tuesday, January 21, 20141717With 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.

How it Works in the FieldAspects of Hawthorne StudiesWorkersManagementMotivationProductivityTuesday, January 21, 201418EEIM18In 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.WorkersInsights, suggestions, likes and dislikes, moral, training.

ManagementTransfer of power to workers, knowing their workers.Tuesday, January 21, 201419EEIM19Workers 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.MotivationIncentives to increase productivity and quality.

ProductivityBy increasing the output rate and keeping costs down, the company will be able to increase profits.Tuesday, January 21, 201420EEIM20Different 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.