Elton Mayo’s Human Relations Theory

INTRODUCTION

The human relations approach says; a happy worker is an efficient worker; that means if an organization can keep its workforce happy, it would bring more productivity and more profit because if a worker is happy with the emoluments and all the benefits that he deserves and the organization provides, he will have a sense of belongingness towards the organization and would do utmost efforts to lift the organization up in the market.

According to Human Relations Approach, management is the Study of behaviour of people at work. This approach had its origin in a series of experiments conducted by Professor Elton Mayo and his associates at the Harvard School of Business at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Works, near Chicago.

These studies brought out for the first time the important relationships between social factors and productivity. Before it, productivity of the employees was considered to be a function only of physical conditions of work and money wages paid to them. For the first time, it was realized that productivity depended largely upon the satisfaction of the employees in work situations.

EMERGENCE OF HUMAN RELATIONS THEORY

Human Relations Theory came as a reaction to the classical approach, which stressed on formal structure. The classical school neglected the human side and under emphasized on the socio-psychological aspect of organization. George Elton Mayo was in charge of certain experiments on human behavior carried out at the Hawthorne Works of the General Electric Company in Chicago between 1924 and 1927. His research findings have contributed to organization development in terms of human relations and motivation theory. What he found however was that work satisfaction depended to a large extent on the informal social pattern of the work group. Where norms of cooperation and higher output were established because of a feeling of importance, physical conditions or financial incentives had little motivational value. People will form work groups and this can be used by management to benefit the organization.

GEORGE ELTON MAYO’S EXPERIMENTS

1.     ILLUMINATION EXPERIMENT: In this experiment mayo changed the physiological aspects related to work, but the productivity showed no direct relationship. This experiment proofed that productivity is not only the function of physiological aspects but is also influenced by the social and psychological factors too.

2.     RELAY ASSEMBLY TEST ROOM EXPERIMENT: – in this experiment mayo tried to analyze the relationship between working condition and morale. In this experiment mayo made changes with respect to the incentive, rest periods, work conditions etc., but such changes caused no improvement in productivity.

3.     MASS INTERVIEWING PROGRAMME: - A large number of workers were interviewed to know their perceptions and orientation on the working life. The results again confirmed the importance of informal relation, social and psychological needs and their impact on the behaviour of the workers.

4.     BANK WIRING EXPERIMENT: - this experiment highlighted the social cohesion among the employees. Findings with respect to human relation school are highlighted in “management and worker” of Roethlisberger and Dickson.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE HAWTHORNE EXPERIMENTS

a)      A factory is not only a techno-economic unit but a psycho-social organization also.

b)     The workers spontaneously form small informal groups. The norms and values of such groups have significant influence on the behaviour and performance of the workers.

c)      Physical conditions of work have some influence on the workers’ morale and productivity. But their inter-personal relations, attitude of the supervisors and other social and psychological factors have a far greater influence.

d)     Usually, the workers act or react not as individuals but as the members of a group.

e)      The workers are not mere economic men motivated by money alone. They respond to the total work situation including recognition, participation etc.

f)       The informal leaders play an important role in setting and enforcing group norms.

g)      The managers must understand and recognize the inter-personal and group relations on the job.

CRITICISM OF HUMAN RELATION THEORY

1.            It lacks scientific validity.

2.            Behavior of the workers during the experiments was not natural. It was actually the Hawthorne effect which gives their best when observed.

3.            It is pro-management and anti-union.

4.            It gave little attention the formal relation while putting greater emphasis on the informal relations.

5.            This theory is not aware of the economic dimension and neglected the nature of work.

6.            It could not explore the multi dimensional phenomenon of human motivation.

7.            Marxists says that it is a new technique to exploit workers as it de-emphasized economic factors.

8.            It is over-concerned with happiness.

9.            It does not recognize the conflict as a creative force.

10.       It ignored the environmental factors of workers attitudes.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, those who subscribe to the Human Relations School of Thought are of the view that the effectiveness of any organization depends on the quality of relationships among the people working in the organization. So, according to them, the managers must concern themselves with an analysis of organizational behaviour, that is, interaction of people with the organization. The basic assumption of this school still remains that the goals of the organization are achieved through and with the people.

REFERENCES

1.      Brainykey August 22, 2013. Access through: - (http://www.brainykey.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Elton-Mayo. 

2.      Management Theory & Workplace Application (/management-theory/)

3.      Human Relations Management Theory Basics (/management-theory/humanrelations-management-theory-basics/)

4.      Human Relations Movement in Management: Theory & Timeline