There’s a number of famous motivational theorists
and Elton Mayo is one of them, he developed a theory of motivation named the Human Relations
School of Thought after conducting an experiment with employees at a factory in Illinois.
Let’s take a look at what it’s all about and why a business should consider the theory
when attempting to motivate their employees. First of all, it’s very important to acknowledge
that Elton Mayo was a supporter of Frederick Taylor’s theory of motivation, known as Scientific
Management or Taylorism, within which Taylor suggests employees are mainly motivated by pay.
However, Mayo had a strong belief that employee motivation was much more complex
than solely being influenced by money and he wanted to find out what this was to help
businesses get the most out of their employees. He initially thought that employee motivation
was influenced by physical factors such as a change in working conditions,
including the amount of heating or lighting provided in the working
environment or how rest breaks were regulated. Therefore, during the 1920’s he set up and
conducted a series of tests known as the Hawthorne Studies or the ‘Hawthorne Experiment’.
During this experiment, Mayo separated workers from the Hawthorne Factory based in Illinois,
into two teams with the aim of investigating the impact of these physical factors on their
motivation levels and respective productivity. Mayo altered the working conditions across
both teams, for example increasing the amount of light employees were exposed too or the
length of rest breaks employees received in one team and decreasing them in the other team.
He was essentially varying the physical factors of the working environment to see if there was
an optimum amount and if so, the impact it had on employee’s motivation or productivity levels.
Heating and working hour were additional physical factors which Mayo adapted during the
experiment to assess their impact. Mayo predicted that the motivation levels
of employees would decrease as the working conditions became worse, which would then
have a negative impact on their productivity. However, he was surprised to find that his
prediction was wrong, changes to the working environment such as decreasing the amount of
light that employees were subjected to during the experiment actually had no detrimental
impact on their motivation or productivity. In fact, productivity levels improved
or at the very least remained the same. So, Mayo had to go back to the drawing board
and started to investigate the matter further and eventually he came to a different
conclusion than what he originally believed. He concluded that it was in fact social
factors and not physical factors which helped to boost both the motivation
and productivity levels of employees. What became clear during the
experiment was positive relationships and clear communication between managers and
employees were found to be very influential in regard to increasing employee motivation.
This was because the participants started to feel valued and appreciated as they had been selected
to take part in the experiment, it made them feel somewhat special, which led to them forming
new relationships and increased their morale. In the modern world, we expect businesses to
have a dedicated Human Resources department or at least an employee responsible
for the people it employs. However, it was the outcome of the Hawthorne
Experiment and Mayo’s Human Relations theory that led to the development of the first ever
personnel department which was set up and focused on the needs of employees, evolving
into what we know today as Human Resources. Following this, Mayo suggested that managers
should be more involved in employee’s working lives and the workforce should be structured so
employees are working in teams where possible rather than in isolation to increase
social interaction in the workplace. Essentially, Mayo believed that employees
should be treated more like humans than robots, and managers should take greater interest
in them as people who have valuable opinions and are naturally social beings.
Following the Hawthorne Experiment, the term ‘Hawthorne Effect’ was formed, this
became a term to classify the relationship between the attention employees receive
and the amount of work they produce. Put simply, the more attention they receive,
the more valuable they feel, and the more productive they become or at the very least,
individuals alter an aspect of their behaviour when they become aware, they are being observed.
However, the Hawthorne Effect has faced criticism for being exaggerated and flawed, essentially
there is some truth to the Hawthorne Effect, but how much of an impact it has
on results remain in question. So, now that we know the fundamentals
of Mayo’s Theory of Human Relations, lets explore some of the key benefits
and drawbacks of the motivational theory and its application in the modern business world.
First of all, the theory encourages positive workplace relationships, especially
between managers and employees. Also, the wellbeing of employees is a central
focus and considered to be much more important in comparison to Taylorism, prompting managers
to show a vested interest and learn more about them as people on an individual basis.
Which in turn, helps to increase the morale of the workforce as employees
feel valued and appreciated, leading to increased levels of employee: morale,
retention, motivation, and productivity. However, Mayo’s theory of Human
Relations has faced criticism in the past and it’s very important to understand why.
Firstly, the theory of Human Relations is primarily based on the outcome
of the Hawthorne Experiment which was conducted by Elton Mayo and many critics
suggest this was unscientific in its design and lacks sufficient supportive evidence
to justify the conclusions that were drawn. Arguing, that the selection of work and the
environment the experiment took place in were both unscientific, and the number of participants
selected for the experiment was too small. Furthermore, conflict in the workplace is almost
inevitable and often required for progress, yet critics suggest the theory is based on employees
and managers simply co-operating with one another. With no thought of the potential for conflict to
happen and how it could impact the motivation and productivity levels of employees if it did.
Another key critique to consider is how the theory oversimplifies human behaviour as it
assumes satisfied workers will automatically be productive workers, which is simply not true.
There is evidence to support social factors helping to positively influence motivation and
productivity, however there is also a vast array of additional factors which contribute to
every employee in the workplace and these are simply overlooked by Elton Mayo.
Leading critics to compare the theory with the assumption that a satisfied cow would
produce more milk and pay no consideration to any other variable.
So that’s it, Elton Mayo’s Human Relations School of Thought.
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