Management Philosophies
(Elton Mayo)
Introduction
Elton Mayo was born in the year 1980 in Australia. Later he became a lecturer at the University of Queensland. Elton Mayo later in the year 1923, he became an associate of research at Pennsylvania University. He studied the factors that affected the employee turnover. He was later selected the associate professor in the department of human relations. He also conducted various researches like the factors that influence the human behavior in an organization (Clegg et al 2005). In his research, he came to some conclusions that various groups in an organization influence the way an employee is motivated. He tried to find out ways of an organization can improve its productivity through employees. Among the first factor he came up with was to improve the working conditions of the employees. From his research study, he came up with conclusions that the performance of any employee depends on such factors as social and satisfaction of their jobs. In this essay, I will discuss the theory of Elton W Mayo, the contributions of his theory in the society both negative and positive, the argument about his theory and finally the conclusion of the findings.
Theory of Elton MayoElton Mayo developed the theory of motivation among employees which was added into the management theory. He discovered that it’s not only financial resources that motivate the workers but also the social needs which enable the employees to be settled hence offer their best skills (Jones 2010). From his research he concluded that employees are motivated through better communication, involvement of the employees and encouraging the employees to work in teams.
Better communication motivated the employees in that when there is good relationship between the employees and the managers, there will be good sharing of information. This was conducted from the experiments he conducted on the employees of Hawthorne (Pearson 2012). The production of employees before and after they promoted good communication was different which shows that when there is good communication between the employees and the management, they will be motivated hence increase their production.
Also the employees were motivated better when the managers were greatly involved in the operations of the organization. When the managers were close to the employees and monitored their performance, the employees could receive instructions better unlike when the management is not greatly involved (Allen 2004). The managers could be involved through social interactions with employees, which imply that employees are treated fairly by the managers hence could feel like they are among the stakeholders of the organization thus offer their best skills as a result of motivation hence increase their productivity.
Working in groups also motivated the employees. When the employees are involved in various groups, they will be motivated because they increase their understanding concerning various works or tasks. For instance, if an employee was assigned a task which he or she is not best at, he will start disliking that job leading job dissatisfaction (Daft 2007). But when the employees are encouraged to work in groups, they will share ideas and in the process accomplish their tasks better than when it could have been done by individuals. This helps to increase the morale of employees leading to high motivation. From these experiments therefore, Elton Mayo concluded that employees are motivated when there is good human relations between the management and the employees.
Positive and negative effects of Elton Mayo theoryThrough the research of Elton Mayo, there came up many developments in the management of human relations in organizations. Most management of various organizations understood the sources of motivation to employees. After understanding the ways in which employees can be motivated, they will lay various strategies to ensure that they increase the production of their organization through motivation.
The first positive contribution of Elton Mayo’s theory of motivation is the improved management of the employees. Many organizations adapted the theory of motivation of motivation because the employees were not performing better because they were not motivated (Linstead 2009). After understanding the ways in which employees could be motivated, the organizations improved their management of employees by providing social amenities to increase their morale which in turn improves their productivity. Therefore Elton Mayo’s theory of motivation helped to improve the management of their employees with the aim of improving their morale.
Elton Mayo theory of motivation also enabled many organizations to attract and retain employees with required skills (Linstead 2009). High morale helps to improve job satisfaction thus the employees don’t keep on moving out of the organization to look for new jobs in other organizations. Hence it can be said that Elton Mayo theory of motivation helps to attract and maintain employees in an organization.
Further, Elton Mayo’s theory of motivation helps to improve the performance of various organizations. This is because the management realized the importance of motivating the employees and designs various strategies for improving the morale of the employees (Linstead 2009). From the research Elton Mayo conducted, it is evident that employees increase their productivity when their morale is high and low when the morale is low. Therefore managers in the business world are adopting this theory of Elton Mayo of motivating employees so that their productivity can also improve.
On the other hand, Elton Mayo’s theory of motivation also enabled many organizations to improve on their competitiveness in the market. This is as a result of the services and skills that the employees offer. When the employees are motivated, they offer their best skills in accomplishing tasks and this ensures that the products are of better quality than those of the competitors who do not apply the theory of Elton Mayo hence they gain competitive advantage.
On the negative effects, Elton Mayo theory of motivation led to poor focus on other stakeholders. For instance, many organizations are so much concerned about the production of the employees through motivation and forgotten about the corporate social responsibility (Hannagan 2007). This is because the organizations focus on how to improve productivity through employees thus the corporate social responsibility is not taken care of.
Also the Elton Mayo theory of motivation led to inadequate focus on other areas that may motivate the employees. For example little attention was put on the physical factors. The employees are not only motivated by the social factors but also by the physical equipment that the employees use in their operations (Pearson 2012). The physical factors also encourage employees because they can handle their tasks with ease hence they get motivated and do more to increase their productivity.
Arguments for Elton Mayo theory of motivationThere have been various arguments about the Elton Mayo theory of motivation. To start with, it is argued by Herzberg that employees cannot only be motivated by social factors, group work and management involvement. He argues that employee motivation is greatly influenced by the satisfaction of the job and the type of management in an organization (Hannagan 2007). The job factors include the working conditions, recognition, better salaries and promotions. When an organization has set clear strategies for promoting and paying its employees better, they will be satisfied with their jobs hence improve their morale leading to high motivation. Better pay helps employees to be satisfied with their jobs which will enable them to stay with the organization rather than keeping on looking for better paying jobs. This is a sign of good morale in the organization.
Further, it is argued that employees will be motivated by the style of leadership in an organization. From the Elton Mayo theory of motivation, it is argued that communication alone cannot motivate the employees fully (Cole 2004). It should be integrated into the democratic style of leadership so that the employees will be satisfied with the leadership. Democratic style of leadership takes various dimensions in the management.
First it is the enlargement of the jobs. This is where the employees are delegated to do various types of jobs so as to break monotony which makes the tasks very interesting hence improve the morale of the employees (Pearson 2012). After an employee has accomplished the task successfully, there will be some achievement to that employee and through this he or she will be motivated. Finally on democratic style of leadership, there is empowerments where the employees are assigned various duties are expected to make their own decisions. By making successful decisions, the employee will develop a sense of belonging to the organization thus they are motivated. These arguments were not observed by Elton Mayo when he was conducting his research and that is why the arguments have developed.
In addition, there is an argument that Elton Mayo theory of motivation did not consider the various psychological needs of the employees as a factor of motivation. Employees are motivated by extent of satisfaction of their psychological needs (Wren 2005). For instance, an employee who is hungry is anxious to get a job to buy some food, unlike an employee who has a job but is looking for a better one which can be more stable. The motivation of these two people will be different. Therefore, the management should consider the achievement of various psychological needs of the employees and ensure they are satisfied so that they can be motivated.
My own viewIn my opinion, I think that the Elton Mayo theory of motivation did not cover all the aspects that motivate the employees. However, it improved the management and performance of many organizations which tried to adapt its theory of motivation. Employees cannot only be motivated through good communication, management involvement and through social factors. Together with these factors there has to be a democratic style of leadership where the employees are given a chance to exercise some control (Pearson 2012). They will be motivated through better salaries and wages which will enable them to satisfy their psychological needs. Therefore Elton Mayo theory of motivation did not cover all the motivation factors.
The employees can be motivated through good leadership by the management. When the employees are involved in the decision making process in the organization, they will identify themselves as part of the organization and therefore they can do all they can to improve the performance of the organization. They feel that they are important in the organization and thus they can offer their best skills towards achieving the objectives of the organization. The employees will also be motivated through better salaries and wages (Pearson 2012). When the employees are compensated well for their human labor, they will work hard and will be motivated because they will feel satisfied with what the organization offers them hence they will be job satisfaction.
In this regard therefore, the theory of Elton Mayo can be said to be not exhaustive. In order for the employees to be motivated there has to be a combination of various factors which are good leadership, good communication, management involvement, better salaries and wages and involving employees in the decision making process. In this effect the employees will be motivated.
ConclusionMotivation is the style of leadership where the employees are willing to do their tasks in the best way possible with less effort. Elton Mayo was a famous scientist who conducted research on the factors that influence the employees’ motivation. According to Elton Mayo and his research, the factors that influence employee motivation include the communication between the employees and the management, the involvement of the management and the provision of social factors. The effects of Elton Mayo’s theory of motivation include improved performance of organizations, ability to attract and retain employees in the organization, improved people management and improved performance of the organization by attaining the competitive advantage. There have also been arguments on the theory of Elton Mayo. It is argued that for employees to be motivated fully their needs have to be satisfied, better wages and salaries, job satisfaction and there has to be a democratic style of leadership. In this regard, motivators of employees comprise of all the social, financial and leadership of the organization. With all these components, the employees will be satisfied, and improve their productivity.
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