Hawthorne Effect | What is Hawthorne Effect?

Hawthorne effect has to do with the adjustment of one’s behavior due to the fact of being under observation, it is also called the observer effect. When an experiment or research is being conducted, the tendency for the subjects to alter any part of their behavior because they are aware of the fact that they are being watched, this is the Hawthorne effect.

This has become one of the major concepts of behavioral sciences suggesting generally that people will behave better when they know that there is someone out there paying attention to them. So, giving more attention to people brings out the best in them.

In some or other way, this is where they think that they will get appraisal and employees tend to do better! And there’s even fear in mind of lazy once to get Caught! Thus, somehow Hawthorne effect plays a major role in increase productivity.

Hawthorne Effect Infographic

History of the Hawthorne Effect

Hawthorne Effect, all began with an experiment conducted on the employees of Hawthorne Works between the periods of 1924 to 1932. Hawthorne experiment was focused on the effects of changes in the structure of work and changes in the factory lighting on the productivity of workers. The research was conducted with new changes added and workers were observed for a period of time to notice their productivity level as a result of the change.

All the findings of Hawthorne experiment were recorded and Elton Mayo analyzed the data gathered from the research. After analysis it was discovered that there was a notable increase in production from workers when the changes were made to their working conditions. The conclusion of the experiment was that when working conditions are improved, then the workers will perform better.

The research team gave their conclusions to Hawthorne Works and their suggestions were implemented; working conditions were maintained at the new changed level as it was during the observation, bringing an end to the research. When the observations and study ended, there was an abrupt decrease to the level of productivity back to the previous level before the experiment began.

Henry A. Landsberger, in 1958 went over the data gathered in the previous experiment explained above. After analysis he suggested that the drop in employee productivity after the experiment was because the observations were over.

So, according to Landsberger, the increase in the activity level of workers was due to the fact that they were motivated by the idea of being observed(Hawthorne Effect). The attention of the researchers on the workers made them to do their best at work each day cumulating to an overall increase in the factory’s production. Henry A. Landsberger called this change in behavior due to awareness of being observed “The Hawthorne Effect” in 1958.

The Impact of Hawthorne Effect on Social Research

A social research is one which is carried out to evaluate the behavior of a person or a group of persons based on some predetermined condition. And as in all researches the observer would need to watch the research subjects closely to gather findings that will lead to the conclusion of the experiment. Because human research subjects will be interviewed or observed during each social research to take note of behavioral changes, the Hawthorne effect would influence the data collected.

There will always be social researches conducted in the future. The impact of the Hawthorne effect on the results of these researches should be noted so as to ascertain the right results. This is because there will always be behavioral adjustments caused by the consciousness of being watched.

In other words research subjects do not act naturally as they are supposed to during an observation that they know of. This makes the result derived from such observations more of speculation since one cannot ascertain the genuinely of these actions.

For example, Hawthorne Effect can more be compared with a study to, observe the impact of rich protein and vegetable based diet on the performance of students in the classroom might produce a high positive result from findings gathered. Those students might start participating actively in class because they are being observed, not necessary because the change in diet has positively impacted and altered their performance.

So, how does one gather accurate data from a social research involving the direct observation of human subjects? The way out will be to find a way to quantify and eliminate the Hawthorne effect out of the data retrieved, calling it the human error factor.

This is with the current understanding that humans with definitely behave differently when conscious of the fact that they observed. When directly observing human research subjects in an experiment always factor out the Hawthorne effect in their actions and deduct it from data gathered.

Another way out to get exact and accurate findings from the observation of human research subjects will be to do it indirectly. Observations conducted secretly without the awareness of the research subject will produce the most accurate data that can be analyzed without error.

The impact of the Hawthorne effect on social researches is that it has created global awareness that most results derived from direct observation of humans in any social context are exaggerated. There is therefore a need for a metrics, a system of measurement to accurately quantify the level of exaggerated behavior to be deducted from the findings, in order to arrive at the exact accurate result.

Industrial Psychology & The Hawthorne Effect

The concept of the Hawthorne effect based on the experiment of Elton Mayo and the further analysis of Henry A. Landsberger are strongly rooted in the foundations of industrial psychology. This observer effect is the basic block of one of the great arm of social sciences.

When you study industrial psychology you will be taught the way out of the Hawthorne effect which poses as an error in human observational researches. So before conducting any social research you should have a firm grips on the interactions that exist between the research subjects and their friends, co-workers and working environment as a whole.

This goes further to advice that a subject should not be isolated from his/her natural operating environment so as to have the most natural reactions from them during any experiment. For instance a selected set of workers from a whole lot would create a special feeling in those picked for the experiment causing a need to behave in a special way.

The Advantages of the Hawthorne Effect on Work Environment

The Hawthorne effect states that the behavior of a subject changes for better when he/she is conscious of being watched. This concept can be applied to the work environment to cause increased productivity in employees so as to advance the firm and maximize profits. It is now a general fact that people behave better when under observation, than when left to operate on their own.

Creating an enabling work environment that would bring workers and managers together, with a good follow up system is ideal. This will ensure a monitoring system that will make every employee act responsibly since he/she knows that superior are watching. Any firm that the Director or CEO is always on sit, moving around to do routine checks on all the departments at unscheduled times and interval produces better.  This is because of the Hawthorne effect, every member of staff would adjust his/her work attitude to be at the best behavior since he knows the CEO can walk in at any moment.

To increase productivity, every organization should closely observe all workers at all times. This can be achieved by creating worker to manager monitoring systems that would make every departmental head work closely with all subordinates receiving and giving feedback as at when due. These are some ways to use the Hawthorne effect for the benefit of your company:

Let supervisors and managers be present with workers during work

This is another important element in Hawthorne Effect. Create a working environment that positions supervisors and team managers closely working with subordinates. These heads should not work in isolated offices far apart from their team members, this makes workers feel isolated and therefore do whatever they like, believing no one cares, no one is watching anyway.

But if the team leader is in the same room as his team members, he will pay close attention to their activities and hence closely observe the performance of each team member. All workers in that team would respect and appreciate the presence of their manger with them and hence adjust work behavior for the better.

Show Genuine Interest in Workers

In the case of the Hawthorne works experiment that gave rise to the observer effect that we all use today. The researchers showed genuine interest in the worker and also in their working conditions. They were there each day interviewing them and finding out if they had any challenge with work. This great show of interest largely contributed to the increase in productivity that was recorded by that experiment.

So, to repeat that kind of increase in employee’s activity, the firm has to begin to show genuine interest in employees to find out all challenges they might face in the execution of their duties. This can be actualized by instructing all team leaders to find out on a daily basis the challenges any team member experiences and some factors that can make the execution of his/her easier.

Informal Organization Affects Productivity

When there are informal relationship existing between team mangers and their team members productivity is enhanced. The boss should have some level of personal relationship with his employees. The supervisor should also have a great level of personal relationship with his subordinates. Various team leaders should cultivate a one to one relationship with every team member. This creates a very cordial and comfortable working environment that will promote growth and development in the company.

Every worker will wake up with joy every morning excited to get to work, because he knows that a warm cozy friendly environment awaits him at work. He is excited to get to work, because he cannot wait to share the fantastic idea he just got on how to solve present team problem to his team head. This is the outcome of cultivating an informal working setting at the office.

An interpersonal relationship at the work place is one of the best ways to use the Hawthorne effect to the advantage of your firm’s productivity. This is far better than the usual formal relationship that was instilled in every work place in the past. It made official areas very strict and quite, almost as quite as a grave yard, and work became boring as well.

Let your Organization become a Social Hub

Let your establishment become a hub of social activities; let it become a modern day sociological system. Let every division of the company exist to complete and compliment the other part. No single entity exists in isolation, all parts work together to achieve the organizational set goals.

A working environment that is a social system needs to be consciously implemented. It will require strategic implementation of policies that would form bedrock to this effect. It will require an organizational organ that would also strategically place team members directly under their team leaders and team heads directly responsible to top level mangers that liaise face to face with the Boss or CEO.

This means that the problems encountered by one department will affect the other units of the organization. If one fails they all fail together, the popular saying asserts. This is exactly what it means when an organization becomes a social system with every part interdependent on the other.

Conclusion | Hawthorne Effect

People act differently tending to change behavior for the better when aware of the fact that they are being observed – this is the Hawthorne effect. This observer’s effect(Hawthorne Effect) poses as a challenge to the accurate gathering, coalition and analysis of social researches, since the human research subjects are liable to alter their behavior once they realize they are being watched. This was the case at Hawthorne Works Corporation and the experiment conducted by Elton Mayo.

However, when implemented in the work environment, the Hawthorne effect produces excellent productivity. This is because employees feel the presence and interest of their superiors, and are motivated by that, thereby giving their best to the job. The Observers effect as the Hawthorne effect is also called turns the work place to a social system that motivates workers, causing them to delightfully come to work every day.