Tuesday, June 10, 2008
hawthorne effect Ch. 3 pgs. 83-84
The Hawthorne Effect claims that the increase of managerial attention to workers also leads to an increase of productivity. Now this is probably a very true theory. However, my question is what type of attention was given by management to the workers. Because assuming that an employees boss, aka their paycheck provider is around while they are working is most likely to be assumed that they will be making sure they do their job properly and in accordance with the management's liking. I would argue that this is the reason that productivity increased. I know from personal experience that when around a person holding a higher position I straighten up, put an extra pep in my step and of course (hate to say it) brown nose a little more. Ultimately causing me to do a better job than I might have if I knew I wasn't being paid any attention to.
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4 comments:
I completly agree. Whenever my present boss is around and looking over my shoulder I definatly do all of the things mentioned in the above blog. For example I used to work at a local starbucks and in the mornings when the manager was there everyone did their job well and with a good attitude. Everything was done at the time it was supposed to and we all worked together and had breaks when we were supposed to(we also came back from those breaks when we were supposed to.) The difference was in the afternoon and evening shifts when he would not be there. Everyone slacked off, was rude to customers, took longer breaks, and we were always trying to get out sooner than we were supposed too. So if their is managerial attention always this theory might be affective.
You brought up an interesting point that the Hawthorne effect may be flawed in various ways. As you mentioned, attention given to employees by observing them and noticing them may not be the cause of increase productivity, but rather the need to work efficiently to prevent from being fired. On another hand, giving attention to employees could mean giving breaks, flexible work hours, or environments that are cleaner to work in. These physical conditions psychologically make employees more content and thus, this satisfaction reflects the increase level of productivity. Although, I do recognize that not everyone has the same goals and motivations. These behaviors may derive from being lazy, competitive/ambitious, or greedy. Thank you for being up this point about Hawthorne effect, because I have not thought of it before.
I do the exact same thing whenever my boss is around the office. The good thing is that I work in a cubicle, so it's not like she can see my every move. I definitely see the difference, even my supervisors act a little different when my boss is around. My boss isn't even the type of person to be intimidated by, but for some reason everybody changes their behavior. From the moment my boss walks in the office, the noice level also goes down, my co-worker, my supervisors and I never say anything of why we do this. I think we do this without even realizing.
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