Elton Mayo & The Hawthorne Effect

Elton Mayo & The Hawthorne Effect: A Modern Day Application

By Caitlin LeStrange

Mayo's

Conclusions

Elton Mayo before the Hawthorne Studies

Increased productivity due to:

• Attention being paid to workers
• Worker's involvement in decisions about their working conditions
• Workers being asked what they thought about the changes both before and after the changes were made
• Compromise between workers and managers

• Post WWI researched shell shock
• Philadelphia spinning mill turnover rate research

How can L&D Professionals Apply the Hawthorne Effect Today?

The Hawthorne Studies

Additional Findings of the Hawthorne Studies

1924-1932

The Hawthorne Effect

"The theory that employees will perform more efficiently simply because they are given special attention."

-Elaine Biech

10 Steps to Successful Training

Training Topic: Mission Effectiveness Orientation

Questions?

Personalize the Training from the Start

By sending a Welcome Letter

• Executive Director and trainers send out a welcome letter that emphasizes why it is so important that participant attends - welcomes them to the GSS family
• Solicit trainees to submit their questions to the Executive Director, which will be answered in the session

Key Ideas from the Hawthorne Effect that can be applied in training:

• Employees are more productive when they work in groups
• Without someone to listen and understand underlying problems, employees often resort to complaining
• Wage incentives alone did not improve productivity, workers put a higher emphasis on group acceptance

• Creation of a safe space and trust
• Supportive feedback
• Opportunities for contributions
• Feeling of being valued, heard, and understood
• Teamwork, collaboration, and sense of belonging to the group
• Sense that trainees are being observed
• Systems approach

Agenda

Welcome to Training

• Thank participants for coming and express enthusiasm and excitement about being in training today
• Overview of training objectives, ground rules, and agenda
• Express the importance of being present and contributing to the discussion--your insights are what will make this training meaningful

Introductory Exercise: Appreciative Inquiry

• Mayo and his assistants Fritz Roethlisberger and William Dickson were invited to conduct experiments at the Western Electric Hawthorne factory
• Altered work conditions such as turning the light up or down
• When lighting was turned up, productivity rose, which was expected
• When lighting was turned down, it also rose, which was unexpected

Brief Summary of Activity:

• In pairs, partners take turns interviewing each other about their values and what brought them to work at GSS
• Participants should be listening deeply to their partner's story
• Share out the value you heard from the person's story, quotable quotes, and highlights
• Facilitators collect values on flipchart

How this Supports Hawthorne Effect

• Exercise builds trust between pairs, sense of belonging with the whole group
• Feeling of being heard and supported in values and story
• Contributing to the overall identity/mission of the organization--the people that make up the system
• Sense of being observed, ideas are recorded and sent to participants after training

Story of the Founder and Overview of Organization History

Brief Summary of Activity

Youth and Family Development Pictionary

• Introduction to mission statement by Executive Director
• Story of the Founder video and overview of history
• World Cafe Discussion of History and Video- What had real meaning? What challenged you?
• Small group discussions where participants are encouraged to:
• Contribute thinking and experiences
• Listen to understand
• Connect ideas
• Listen for patterns, insights, deeper questions
• Play, doodle, and draw

Brief Summary of the Activity

After Training

• Brief overview of YFD and examples of how it is practiced
• Participants are put into small groups and each given an envelop containing 2 of the 8 key principles of YFD
• Each group is asked to draw a visual representation of their principles and the other groups have to guess
• Facilitators circulate during drawing time, asking questions

How this Support s the Hawthorne Effect

• Not about right answers about patterns, insights, lingering questions
• Rounds and role of host allows for feedback and collaboration
• Harvest provides a supportive environment where people can be heard and their ideas are valued

How this Supports the Hawthorne Effect

• Collaboration is key
• Opportunities to contribute knowledge and skills
• Team-oriented
• Sense of being observed, asked to input

My Strategic Plan

Brief Summary of Activity

• Facilitators provide an overview of the strategic plan and how it shows how we will live the mission into the future
• Participants are asked to record their own strategic plan to commit to living the mission when they return to their roles/programs

Conclusion

• Personalized touch by mailing not emailing word cloud created by values contributed by participants in the Appreciative Inquiry and "My Strategic Plan" document
• Supervisors and participants engage in discussion of "My Strategic Plan"

Brief Summary of Activities

How this Supports the Hawthorne Effect

• Alumni video
• Reading of Founder quotes
• Facilitators reflections on the day, gifts, and thank yous

How this Supports the Hawthorne Effect

• Illusion of being observed--strategic plans are collected but not read by facilitators
• Supervisors are required to review strategic plan with participants, specific follow up questions to guide discussion (i.e. how can your supervisor support you in your strategic plan)--feeling of being observed, valued, and supported
• Sense of belonging, even in my role I can contribute to the mission being carried out
• Systems approach, but personalized

• Thank you from the participants (clients) who receive our services, highest form of being valued
• Reading of quotes solidifies unity, sense of belonging
• Thank you from facilitators and gifts reinforces being valued

Sources Consulted

• Beich, Elaine. (2009). "10 Steps to Successful Training." American Society of Training and Development.
• The Economist. (April, 24th, 2009.) "Guru: Elton Mayo." http://www.economist.com/node/13562099
• The Economist. (November, 3rd, 2008.) "Idea: The Hawthorne Effect." http://www.economist.com/node/12510632
• The Harvard Business School Baker Library Historical Collection. Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Effect. http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/hawthorne/09.html
• The World Cafe. "Cafe To Go Guide". http://www.theworldcafe.com/tools.html