Human Relations Approach and Elton Mayo- Administrative Thinkers

Elton Mayo

Elton Mayo is considered to be the initiator of the Social Psychological analysis or Human analysis in Organizational Management. His theory is post- Follett. But, Follett’s ideas became known much later. Mayo’s theorization is based on a number of studies he conducted along with a number of researchers and functionaries. Mayo’s theory is not only based on studies and experiments but at the same time, it came out with a novel analysis which became the subject of theorization for the later theorists such as Bernard, Simon etc.

A Preliminary View of Mayo on the Individual and the Society

He believes that the modern society is in a state of disorganization or anomie or planlessness. The traditional society was based on a routine which has been broken down by science and rationality but has not been adequately replaced with a new set of routine. This has resulted into disorganization. The disorganization manifests itself today in every aspect of the society (politics, culture, economy, industry etc.).

This can be addressed by bringing about an Adaptive Society. It is a type of society which has the capacity to accommodate or adapt to the newer conditions or newer situations. It is a society which emphasizes on education and administration. The emphasis is on value based education. Value based education intends to impart wisdom i.e. the ability to distinguish between the right and the wrong. While referring to administration, he says that the administration is managed by the Administrative Elites. Administrative Elites means administrators which are not only equipped with the technical skills but also the social skills i.e. both the hard and the soft skill. Thus, he emphasizing on a participative approach.

Hawthrone Study

Mayo along with a team conducted this study in the Hawthrone unit of the Western Electrical Plant in USA.

1.      Philadelphia Textile Mill Study or the First Enquiry- Philadelphia Textile was a model and a successful organization. But, during the early 20^th century, a spinning unit of this mill developed certain problems such as absenteeism, high labour turnover (250%- number of workers joining and leaving the organization. Thus, an organization will require hiring much more persons than it would originally require to maintain the organization in a working condition) and thereby, inefficiency and loss persisted. The mill took the help of a number of Engineer-Managers to address this problem. All this went in vain. Finally, it was referred to the Harvard School of Business Administration. In that context, it was assigned to Elton Mayo.

When Mayo visited the unit, he found that the work condition inside the unit is very noisy and the workers were working for very long work hours without any rest. Mayo took a simple initiative by introducing few rest periods or rest pauses between the work hours. Very surprisingly, the absenteeism reduced, turnover vanished and productivity increased.

Subsequently, after some time, the managers withdrew the Rest Periods. Previous condition of absenteeism and loss of productivity revisited. Alarmed by the condition, the managers introduced the rest periods with conditions and linking it with production. Again, the absenteeism reduced but productivity did not increase to the previous levels. So, Rest Periods were introduced without conditions which brought the productivity to the previous level.

Mayo said that the nature of work being monotonous, work condition being noisy and work duration being long, the workers are suffering from fatigue and witnessing melancholic or pessimistic reveries. The workers were not able to interact with each other and were not able to enjoy the social or optimistic reveries. The introduction of Rest Pauses enabled the workers to interact with each other and able to adjust to the boredom of the work. It also relieved their fatigue. Because of this the absenteeism stopped and the workers were able to concentrate on work.

2.      Western Electrical Plant was a well-developed, profit making organization. It witnessed similar problems. The organization responded in a usual manner by employing Engineer Managers. It failed miserably. So, the organization initiated some studies.

a.       Illumination Experiment- Under this experiment, the very aim was to understand the co-relation between the physical condition of the work and productivity. In this experiment, the effort was to understand the effect of lightning on the productivity.

Two teams were created and each team comprised of six females workers. In the beginning, the level of lighting was maintained at a constant level. The workers were allowed to work under a particular level of lighting for a particular time so that they were able to acclimatize themselves with that level of lighting. After a period of time, in the context of one of the teams, the level of lighting was gradually increased. Interestingly, as the lighting was gradually increased, the productivity also increased simultaneously. After reaching a point, the level of light was gradually decreased. As, the level of lighting was reduced, the productivity increased. The productivity went on increasing till the level when the lighting became so dim that the workers were not able to see at all.

With the other team, the level of lighting was maintained at a constant level. Interestingly, the productivity with the second group also increased. By this time, Mayo joined the experiment. Mayo and his team started with a new experiment called as Assembly Relay Test Room Experiment.

Under this study, Mayo selected six female workers. In this study, gradually numbers of incentives were provided. They were provided with shorter work hours, bonuses, rest periods, refreshments etc. While, these incentives were being provided, the productivity went on increasing. After a point of time, these incentives were gradually withdrawn. As the incentives were being withdrawn, the productivity was increasing.

Subsequently, Mayo came out with an explanation to explain these findings. The reason for the increase in productivity is social and psychological. Thus, the reason is human and not mechanical in nature. The workers are aware that they are being observed and are part of an experimental team. This is giving them a sense of importance and recognition. Here, the supervisor is friendly and consistently interacting with the workers. The observers were also interacting with the workers. The changes introduced were introduced with the knowledge of the workers. These conditions resulted into creation of a group feeling and developed a sense of participation among the workers. This particular social interaction and feeling is responsible for the rise in productivity.

With this, the team wanted to conduct further studies to concretize their findings.

b.      Interview Experiment- This is also referred to as Human Relations and Sentiment Experiment. The aim was conduct as many interviews of the workers as possible. The Hawthrone Plant employed around 40,000 workers. Under this program, around 21,000 workers were interviewed. Interviews were recruited for the said purpose. The interviewers were asked to be patient and attentive towards the remarks of the workers. They were also asked to maintain records and not interfere even though the workers deviate from the questions and gave vague answers. Also, the views of the workers were not shared with the management.

While the interviews were being conducted, the productivity went on increasing. Later on, when Elton Mayo went through the data, he found that the workers have come out with a diverse range of views. Most of these views were negative in nature related to the management and the working conditions. Some even mentioned the problems in their families and neighbourhood. Mayo concluded that the increase in productivity was because of the interview program which acted as a Ventilation Therapy for the workers and at the same time, the workers developed a sense of “We” feeling. This was the reason for the increase in productivity. Workers developed a feeling that their views were important for the organization and those views will be incorporated in the work process. This view of the workers was reinforced by a changed behaviour of the supervisor towards them because supervisors were instructed to be friendly. This feeling resulted into a sense of participation and the workers were psychologically attached with the organization.

Mayo was aware of the fact that the studies have been conducted in an artificial environment i.e. the workers were aware that they were being observed. Mayo wanted to conduct further studies in a natural or a spontaneous environment.

c.       Bank Wiring Experiment- This is also being referred to as Social Organization and Disorganization Experiment. It was conducted through Participant Observation method. Under this, the researchers became a part of the workforce. The study found out that the supervisors have set a target but the workers were not working as per the targets set by the supervisor. Rather, they are working and producing an amount of work which was less than the target fixed by the supervisor. Very interestingly, the productivity of all the workers was similar. The study found out that the group itself has set a target which is below the supervisor’s target. The group, in order to ensure compliance of the workers towards the group target, introduced several social strategies such as social ostracization or social ridiculing, name-calling etc. One who produced more than the targets was called as Ratebuster and one who produced less than the designated target was called as Chiseller. Also, the one who disclosed secrets to the management was called as Squealer. Mayo emphasized that there was an informal aspect present in every organization apart from the formal aspect which is apparent.

Formal aspect refers to that part of the organization which is recognized and established or the part of the organization which is defined by the rules and manual of the organization. On the other hand, the informal aspect of the organization refers to that part of the organization which is not recognized by the organizational rules and manuals. These are rules which though exist but are not recognized by the organizational rules. Organization does not carry a single identity. It also has an unofficial identity i.e. the informal aspect. Informal aspects can be positive as well.

Informal aspect, if not nurtured well, will result into negative behaviour and retard productivity. If it nurtured well, it will enhance productivity and further the organizational goal.

Organization is a social group based on an intricate web of Human Relations bound together by sentiments. This view is contrary to the line of thought adopted by the classical theorists because they considered individuals as members of the organization who were isolated beings driven by their own self-interest. Classical theories of the organization have developed a view of the organization which is merely an assemblage of individuals with hedonistic interests.

This view of Mayo attracted certain comments. Some say that Mayo has promoted a herd hypothesis (Mayo’s Theory) as against a rabble hypothesis (Classical Theory). Group influencing the individual- Herd, all individuals act under self-interest- Rabble. Mayo says that individuals are influenced by non-economic incentives as well. He also says that within the organization, there exists an informal aspect to it which influences the productivity.

d.      Much later in 1944, after Hawthrone Studies were over, Mayo was invited to view the California Aircraft Industry which was under similar difficulties such as absenteeism and loss of productivity. He did not conduct any study here but went to his institute and looked at the findings which he gathered during the Hawthrone experiment. He applied the same findings to the California Aircraft Industry. He observed that the organization is being managed mechanically and not being managed by considering the human aspect within the organization. He suggested for relaxed supervision, regular consultation with the workers and allowing their participation in the decision-making. He focused on the human aspect of the organization. This resulted into a group feeling or a team feeling among the workers and the absenteeism reduced. This particular event further corroborated the Elton’s view under the Hawthrone Studies.