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. I hope you’ve found the video useful,
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