Mayo

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Introduction
Main Area of Study
Conclusions

Taylor gave us the logic that people only work for money. Elton Mayo took motivational research further. Mayo's research took place at the Western Electric Company plant at Hawthorne. Mayo's work became known as the 'Hawthorne Studies'.

MAIN AREA OF STUDY

The Hawthorne studies took place over two phases:

The first phase was between 1924-1927. The logic of the first phase was to observe which factors would affect employee motivation other than financial rewards. The first phase of the research looked at lighting within a workplace and how it motivated a group of employees. The results showed that improvements to the basic layout of a workplace such as improved lighting resulted in improved output from the employees. You have to remember that prior to this research most factories were often dark, damp working environments. The Hawthorne studies has been regarded as the fundamental force that made employers look at their own workplaces and by applying some simple re-design concepts, achieve higher output.

The second phase was between 1927-32, this looked at individual employees and how changes to their working practices such as hours worked, breaks, supervision, and wages affected the way the way they worked. The logic of the second phase suggested that if employees were placed in selected groups their motivation increased higher than just working in a normal production line. The results showed that better cohesion and communications emerged. This was quite revolutionary for the time period as employees were still treated as mere tools for achieving output. Unfortunately it took several decades for the idea of using employees as resources for a business to be finally accepted.

CONCLUSIONS

The Hawthorne studies took the field of motivational studies a great step forward as it showed that employees were motivated by more than financial rewards alone.

The Hawthorne studies showed:

People liked working in groups.
People like to feel they were wanted by the business, with a sense that their views were wanted, they felt they got the recognition they needed.
There exists external influences which affect employees outside of the workplace.
Groups need to be carefully planned to ensure cohesion, good communication and increased output.

The work of Mayo in it's time frame was revolutionary, it was a shame that it took so long for it to be adapted into the modern workplace. It was probably too radical a concept for employers to start treating employees as resources. Most employers did adopt the logic of improving the physical environment to achieve greater output.

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