Human Relations Approach
Human Relations Approach
The human relations (HR) approach identifies that the workforce may not all be interested in money as a main motivator but appreciation and job satisfaction is just as if not more important than financial. As highlighted in Herzberg’s research the salary would merely be a “launch pad” for the motivation of the employee, with recognition and achievement being a main factor for motivation. The HR approach also supports that idea that employee and employer relationships should be formal as well as informal. Under the scientific and classical approaches to management the employees will very much feel like cattle in the sense that all the managers would be concerned with is profitability and productivity. The workers would be left unappreciated, depressed and probably bored with their jobs. Therefore through the failure of the classical approach the HR approach came about. Elton Mayo was an influential person in the development of the HR approach. He used the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company (1924-32) as a basis to test his theories. These experiments were dubbed the Hawthorne Studies. It consisted of four main stages:-
The illumination experiments
The relay assembly experiments
The interviewing programme
The bank wiring observation room
The illumination experiments focused on the effect of different intensity of lighting on the productivity. These experiments were however inconclusive, as the experimental groups production varied with no relation to the level of lighting. This prompted an investigation into the work force rather than the environment. The relay assembly experiments focused on this, in this experiment they took 6 workers and put them in a similar work environment. Hours of work were changed, rest periods were introduced as were refreshments. A friendly workplace was created and Productivity drastically increased. The next phase of his work was an interview stage where employees were interviewed
The human relations (HR) approach identifies that the workforce may not all be interested in money as a main motivator but appreciation and job satisfaction is just as if not more important than financial. As highlighted in Herzberg’s research the salary would merely be a “launch pad” for the motivation of the employee, with recognition and achievement being a main factor for motivation. The HR approach also supports that idea that employee and employer relationships should be formal as well as informal. Under the scientific and classical approaches to management the employees will very much feel like cattle in the sense that all the managers would be concerned with is profitability and productivity. The workers would be left unappreciated, depressed and probably bored with their jobs. Therefore through the failure of the classical approach the HR approach came about. Elton Mayo was an influential person in the development of the HR approach. He used the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company (1924-32) as a basis to test his theories. These experiments were dubbed the Hawthorne Studies. It consisted of four main stages:-
The illumination experiments
The relay assembly experiments
The interviewing programme
The bank wiring observation room
The illumination experiments focused on the effect of different intensity of lighting on the productivity. These experiments were however inconclusive, as the experimental groups production varied with no relation to the level of lighting. This prompted an investigation into the work force rather than the environment. The relay assembly experiments focused on this, in this experiment they took 6 workers and put them in a similar work environment. Hours of work were changed, rest periods were introduced as were refreshments. A friendly workplace was created and Productivity drastically increased. The next phase of his work was an interview stage where employees were interviewed