Hawthorne The Myth of the Docile Worker Essay

Review This journal begins with an introduction to the infamous Hawthorne experiments led by Elton Mayo and Fritiz J. Roethlisberger. These experiments were based on Mayo’s belief in the need to shift the focus of management from a scientific approach to one that valued human relations. The Hawthorne experiments surfaced as the pioneer studies of it’s time in human management psychology. The results developed a theory known as the â€Å"Hawthorne effect† in which many have incorporated to form the fundamentals of modern day human relations in commerce. Roethlisberger described the â€Å"Hawthorne effect† as an awareness from the working class when special attention is given by their managements thus bringing about a positive change in productivity. Today, the â€Å"Hawthorne effect† is even equated as simply treating employees well. Bramel is critical when pin-pointing the flaws of the theory. Being unconcerned over the methodology and accuracy of the experiments, he gives Mayo the benefit of the doubt and instead questions in particular two aspects of the theory. The first of which is the assumption that workers are easily manipulated by their higher managements to become constructive and cohesive with their fellow workers thus increasing productivity regardless of the working environment or economy. The second assumption being, conflict between management and it’s workers are due to external factors and downplays the fact that conflicts of interests between the two parties is inevitable. The truth remains that the firm is exploitive in it’s capitalist nature, managers will constantly seek to increase productivity whereas workers will always look out for their own economic interest. Bramel’s interpretation of the Hawthorne effect puts into play the fact that the capitalist recognizes that human relations is important. However, he puts it sharply that Mayo’s interpretation of the management- worker relationship is that of a myth, and is not relevant to all managements and cannot be used as a textbook answer towards dealing with workers. Bramel is not the only one who is critical when it comes to the Hawthorne effect theory. Richard Gillespie, 1991, presents us with the most balanced view he strongly disapproves with the Hawthorne effect theory that satisfied employees are productive employees. Instead, he believes the Hawthorne effect is subject to the interpretations by the various experts who manage the situations and apply the theory on their workers to achieve the results they require. I believe the question now lies, how can managements change their worker’s attitudes to achieve a trusting and productive worker? A review of : Bramel, D. (August 1981). Hawthorne, the Myth of the Docile Worker, and Class Bias in Psychology. American Psychologist, Volume 36(8) pp. 867-878. Oreg and Berson note that careful selection process when selecting personnel eliminates negativity in workers and helps bring together like minded people who are passionate about their jobs and look for work satisfaction. (Oreg and Berson, 2011) In this way, class biases and the conflict of interests between managers and workers is reduced. Managers can expect to achieve their desired results and produce a motivated workforce. Managers can expect to maximise the capacity and performance of their human resources by orientating their workers to familiarise them with the company’s goals, objectives and vision, help their workers understand the constant changes and demands of their job requirements and minimises misunderstanding and conflicts in the workplace. In other words, by setting performance expectations that correspond with the worker’s value systems help managers shape their employee’s attitudes. (Oreg and Berson, 2011) Armed with such valuable information, managers who relay their expectations and keep an open channel of communication between themselves and their workers, allow workers to achieve their targets using their best possible means in the the ways most comfortable to them. Integrating workers into the firm is crucial. By providing a flexible and comfortable work environment, managers are able to fully achieve productivity by allowing each worker to be individualistic and reach their full potential. (David Fairhurst, 2010) David woods agrees that complex management hierarchies should be removed and employees are looking for the freedom of speech and their opinions to be valued by managements. He illustrates that in order to retain the best talents, modern managements are to be less oppressive in their management styles and provide more engaging benefits. Employees appreciate the transparency help in management and no longer feel that the firm is looking to exploit them, rather to reward performance based or meritocracy. (David woods, 2010) Wayne Gwilym the HR director of insulation firm Rockwool is one such manager. â€Å"I am a change manager†, Gwilym states. A decade ago, the workers were negative and demotivated when Gwilym took over HR operations of the family based business. Today, Gwilym boasts of the transformation that the Rockwool workforce has gone through and has become a valuable asset to the company. The answer for Rockwool’s workforce transformation presented to us by Gwilym was simple. It was to get the HR team, managers and their workers to work together to develop employment policies as a collaborative effort and expedite it’s implementation. Today, Rockwell strongly believes that a motivated workforce who trusts and looks forward to the business’s future success is one of the forces driving the business forward. Gwilym is a change manager who sees the importance of giving his worker’s stretching targets and establishing a cost cutting project (Harrington, Sià ¢n, 2010) A survey based research conducted by Anne Delarue, Geert Van Hootegem, Stephen Procter and Mark Burridge on teamwork and organizational performance go hand in hand with the concepts as explained to us by Gyilym. The authors suggest that an A review of : Bramel, D. (August 1981). Hawthorne, the Myth of the Docile Worker, and Class Bias in Psychology. American Psychologist, Volume 36(8) pp. 867-878. inclusive human resource system which emphasizes on teamwork, will have a positive effect on employee’s job satisfaction, commitment and motivation. These factors in turn lead to an improvement in employee attitudes and organizational performance. The journal points out that it is important for managers to discover how and why employees behave and perform the way they do. (Anne Delarue, Geert Van Hootegem, Stephen Procter and Mark Burridge, 2008) Bramel’s speculations in the Hawthorne effect theory involving the myth of the docile workers and that class biases do exist is one that I believe holds substance even in our day and age. Further research into the factors as pointed out by Bramel drive the same point home, class biases will continue to exits due to the capitalist nature of the industries and that workers are also humans whose mental state cannot be controlled and is difficult to predict. In today’s context, management sees the importance of a changing and flexible management that places importance in the welfare of it’s workers in order to obtain maximum productivity. Our society’s demanding and constantly changing expectations requires mangers to step up to the challenge to become a change manager who can adapt and find a balance between the expectations of the employers and it’s employees. Management styles will continue to vary and change, however, one fact remains, it is the managers’ duty to employ management techniques to reduce and eliminate threats to the firm. By narrowing down the factors that causes negativity in the workplace, managers can prevent workers’ counteractive mentalities and detrimental company cultures from taking seed. As quoted from Leo Burnett, â€Å"When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one†¦ But you won’t come up with a handful of mud either†. And I believe this is the mindset managers should have when working with their workers bearing in mind that the workforce are the ones who make or break a firm. As quoted from Will Hutton, â€Å"Human resources play a crucial role in the transformation of an industry – but only if it embraces the challenges.† (Will Hutton, 2010) A review of : Bramel, D. (August 1981). Hawthorne, the Myth of the Docile Worker, and Class Bias in Psychology. American Psychologist, Volume 36(8) pp. 867-878. Resources: Richard Gillespie, (1991). Manufacturing Knowledge: A history of the Hawthorne experiments†. Cambridge University Press. Shaul Oreg & Yair Berson, (Autumn 2011 ). Leadership and employees’ reactions to change: The role of Leaders’ personal attributes and transformational leadership style. Personnel Psychology, Vol. 64 issue 3, pp. 627-659. Fairhurst, David, (Nov 2010). We’re in danger of losing sight of the fact employees are human beings rather than, well, human resources. Human Resources. Human Resources. pp. 15-15. David Woods, (Nov 2010). HR Lessons†¦ From history. Human Resources. pp. 62-62. Harrington, Sià ¢n, (Nov 2010). Order out of Chaos. Human Resources. pp. 29-31. Anne Delarue, Geert Van Hootegem, Stepjem Protec & Mark Burridge, (2008). Teamwork and organizational performance: A review of survey-based research. International Journal of management reviews, volume 10 issue 2, pp. 127-148 Will Hutton, (Nov 2010). We cannot wish back into existence factories and steel mills that have been closed over the past 40 years. Human Resources. Pp 22-22.