Pygmalion in Management: by J. Sterling Livingston

Pygmalion in Management
by J. Sterling Livingston
Reprint r0301g
This document is authorized for use only in Prof. E S Srinivas; Prof.Gopal Mahapatra; Prof.Pearl Malhotra; Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan's PGP - MPPO 2019 at Indian Institute of Management -
Bangalore from Aug 2019 to Nov 2019.
January 2003
HBR Case Study ro3o1a

The Best-Laid Incentive Plans
Steve Kerr
Voices ro3o1b
Moving Mountains
Beyond Empowerment: Building ro3o1c

a Company of Citizens
Brook Manville and Josiah Ober
How to Motivate Your Problem People ro3o1d

Nigel Nicholson
What’s Wrong with Executive ro3o1e

Compensation?
A roundtable moderated by Charles Elson
Best of HBR
One More Time: How Do You ro3o1f

Motivate Employees?
Frederick Herzberg
Pygmalion in Management ro3o1g

J. Sterling Livingston
Management by Whose Objectives? ro3o1h

Harry Levinson
Power Is the Great Motivator ro3o1j

David C. McClelland and David H. Burnham
Fair Process: Managing in the ro3o1k

Knowledge Economy
W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
BEST OF HBR
1 969
Pygmalion
in Management
by J. Sterling Livingston
Most parents are aware that teachers’ expectations about individual children
become self-fulfilling prophecies: If a teacher believes a child is slow, the child will
come to believe that, too, and will indeed learn slowly. The lucky child who strikes
a teacher as bright also picks up on that expectation and will rise to fulfill it. This
finding has been confirmed so many times, and in such varied settings, that it’s
no longer even debated.
Self-fulfilling prophecies, it turns out, are just as prevalent in offices as they are
in elementary school classrooms. If a manager is convinced that the people in her
group are first-rate, they’ll reliably outperform a group whose manager believes
the reverse – even if the innate talent of the two groups is similar.
J. Sterling Livingston named this 1969 article after the mythical sculptor who
carves a statue of a woman that is brought to life. His title also pays homage to
George Bernard Shaw, whose play Pygmalion explores the notion that the way one
person treats another can, for better or worse, be transforming. In his article, Liv-
ingston notes that creating positive expectations is remarkably difficult, and he
offers guidelines for managers: Focus special attention on an employee’s first
year because that’s when expectations are set, make sure new hires get matched
with outstanding supervisors, and set high expectations for yourself.
How can you In George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Some managers always treat their
Eliza Doolittle explains: subordinates in a way that leads to su-
get the best “You see, really and truly, apart from perior performance. But most manag-
out of your the things anyone can pick up (the ers, like Professor Higgins, unintention-
dressing and the proper way of speak- ally treat their subordinates in a way
employees? ing, and so on), the difference between that leads to lower performance than
a lady and a flower girl is not how she they are capable of achieving. The way
Expect the best. behaves but how she’s treated. I shall managers treat their subordinates is
always be a flower girl to Professor Hig- subtly influenced by what they expect
gins because he always treats me as a of them. If managers’ expectations are
flower girl and always will; but I know high, productivity is likely to be excel-
I can be a lady to you because you always lent. If their expectations are low, pro-
treat me as a lady and always will.” ductivity is likely to be poor. It is as
Copyright © 2002 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. 5
BEST OF HBR
though there were a law that caused gardless of their sales aptitude. He de- “Now in this year of 1963, we found
subordinates’ performance to rise or fall cided, therefore, to group his superior upon analysis that there were so many
to meet managers’ expectations. agents in one unit to stimulate their per- agents…with a potential of half a mil-
The powerful influence of one performance and to provide a challenging lion dollars or more that only one staff
son’s expectations on another’s behavior environment in which to introduce new remained of those people in the agency
has long been recognized by physicians salespeople. who were not considered to have any
and behavioral scientists and, more re- Accordingly, Oberlander assigned his chance of reaching the half-million-
cently, by teachers. But heretofore the six best agents to work with his best dollar mark.”
importance of managerial expectations assistant manager, an equal number of Although the productivity of the super-
for individual and group performance average producers to work with an aver- staff improved dramatically, it should
has not been widely understood. I have age assistant manager, and the remain- be pointed out that the productivity of
documented this phenomenon in a ing low producers to work with the least those in the lowest unit,“who were not
number of case studies prepared during able manager. He then asked the supe- considered to have any chance of reach-
the past decade for major industrial con- rior group to produce two-thirds of the ing the half-million-dollar mark,” actu-
cerns. These cases and other evidence premium volume achieved by the en- ally declined, and that attrition among
available from scientific research now tire agency during the previous year. He them increased. The performance of the
reveal: describes the results as follows: superior agents rose to meet their man-
• What managers expect of subor- “Shortly after this selection had been agers’ expectations, while that of the
dinates and the way they treat them made, the people in the agency began weaker ones declined as predicted.
largely determine their performance referring to this select group as a ‘super- Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. The “aver-
and career progress. staff’ because of their high esprit de age” unit, however, proved to be an
• A unique characteristic of superior corps in operating so well as a unit. anomaly. Although the district manager
managers is the ability to create high Their production efforts over the first 12 expected only average performance
performance expectations that subordi- weeks far surpassed our most optimistic from this group, its productivity in-
nates fulfill. expectations…proving that groups of creased significantly. This was because
• Less effective managers fail to de- people of sound ability can be moti- the assistant manager in charge of the
velop similar expectations, and as a con- vated beyond their apparently normal group refused to believe that she was
sequence, the productivity of their sub- productive capacities when the prob- less capable than the manager of the
ordinates suffers. lems created by the poor producers are superstaff or that the agents in the top
• Subordinates, more often than not, eliminated from the operation. group had any greater ability than the
appear to do what they believe they are “Thanks to this fine result, our overall agents in her group. She insisted in dis-
expected to do. agency performance improved by 40%, cussions with her agents that every per-
and it remained at this figure. son in the middle group had greater
Impact on Productivity “In the beginning of 1962 when, potential than those in the superstaff,
One of the most comprehensive illus- through expansion, we appointed an- lacking only their years of experience
trations of the effect of managerial ex- other assistant manager and assigned in selling insurance. She stimulated her
pectations on productivity is recorded him a staff, we again used this same con- agents to accept the challenge of out-
in studies of the organizational exper- cept, arranging the agents once more performing the superstaff. As a result,
iment undertaken in 1961 by Alfred according to their productive capacity. each year the middle group increased
Oberlander, manager of the Rockaway “The assistant managers were as- its productivity by a higher percentage
district office of the Metropolitan Life signed…according to their ability, with than the superstaff did (although it did
Insurance Company. He had observed the most capable assistant manager re- not attain the dollar volume of the top
that outstanding insurance agencies ceiving the best group, thus playing group).
grew faster than average or poor agen- strength to strength. Our agency overall It is of special interest that the self-
cies and that new insurance agents per- production again improved by about 25% image of the manager of the average
formed better in outstanding agencies to 30%, and so this staff arrangement re- unit did not permit her to accept others’
than in average or poor agencies, remained in place until the end of the year. treatment of her as an average manager,
just as Eliza Doolittle’s image of herself
J. Sterling Livingston was on the faculty of Harvard Business School from 1941 to 1971. as a lady did not permit her to accept
He founded the Sterling Institute, a management consulting firm specializing in exec- others’ treatment of her as a flower girl.
utive training and development, in 1967 and served as chairman of the Washington, The assistant manager transmitted her
DC–based institute until 1998. He is currently establishing the Sterling Center for own feelings of efficacy to her agents,
Applied Managerial Leadership in Key Biscayne, Florida. created mutual expectancy of high per-
6 harvard business review
formance, and greatly stimulated pro- What managers believe about themselves subtly
ductivity. Comparable results occurred
when a similar experiment was made at influences what they believe about their subordinates,
another office of the company. what they expect of them, and how they treat them.
Further confirmation comes from a
study of the early managerial experi-
ences of 49 college graduates who were the outcome. For instance, the havoc of branches. Then, to reverse that decline
management-level employees of an op- a doctor’s pessimistic prognosis has in deposits and earnings, they often
erating company of AT&T. David E. often been observed. Again, it is well “reached” for loans and became almost
Berlew and Douglas T. Hall of the Mas- known that the efficacy of a new drug irrational in their acceptance of ques-
sachusetts Institute of Technology ex- or a new treatment can be greatly influ- tionable credit risks. Their actions were
amined the career progress of these enced by the physician’s expectations – not so much a matter of poor judgment
managers over a period of five years and a result referred to by the medical pro- as an expression of their willingness to
discovered that their relative success, fession as a placebo effect. take desperate risks in the hope of being
as measured by salary increases and Pattern of Failure. When salespersons able to avoid further damage to their
the company’s estimate of each one’s are treated by their managers as super- egos and to their careers.
performance and potential, depended people, as the superstaff was at the Met- Thus, in response to the low expecta-
largely on the company’s expectations. ropolitan Rockaway district office, they tions of their supervisors who had re-
The influence of one person’s expec- try to live up to that image and do what duced their lending authority, they be-
tations on another’s behavior is by no they know supersalespersons are ex- haved in a manner that led to larger
means a business discovery. More than pected to do. But when the agents with credit losses. They appeared to do what
half a century ago, Albert Moll con- poor productivity records are treated they believed they were expected to do,
cluded from his clinical experience that by their managers as not having any and their supervisors’ expectations be-
subjects behaved as they believed they chance of success, as the low producers came self-fulfilling prophecies.
were expected to. The phenomenon at Rockaway were, this negative expec-
he observed, in which “the prophecy tation also becomes a managerial self- Power of Expectations
causes its own fulfillment,” has recently fulfilling prophecy. Managers cannot avoid the depressing
become a subject of considerable scien- Unsuccessful salespersons have great cycle of events that flow from low expec-
tific interest. For example: difficulty maintaining their self-image tations merely by hiding their feelings
• In a series of scientific experiments, and self-esteem. In response to low man- from subordinates. If managers believe
Robert Rosenthal of Harvard University agerial expectations, they typically at- subordinates will perform poorly, it is vir-
has demonstrated that a “teacher’s ex- tempt to prevent additional damage to tually impossible for them to mask their
pectation for a pupil’s intellectual com- their egos by avoiding situations that expectations because the message usu-
petence can come to serve as an educa- might lead to greater failure. They either ally is communicated unintentionally,
tional self-fulfilling prophecy.” reduce the number of sales calls they without conscious action on their part.
• An experiment in a summer Head- make or avoid trying to close sales when Indeed, managers often communicate
start program for 60 preschoolers com- that might result in further painful re- most when they believe they are com-
pared the performance of pupils under jection, or both. Low expectations and municating least. For instance, when
(a) teachers who had been led to expect damaged egos lead them to behave in they say nothing – become cold and un-
relatively slow learning by their chil- a manner that increases the probability communicative – it usually is a sign that
dren, and (b) teachers who had been of failure, thereby fulfilling their man- they are displeased by a subordinate or
led to believe that their children had ex- agers’ expectations. Let me illustrate: believe that he or she is hopeless. The
cellent intellectual ability and learning Not long ago I studied the effective- silent treatment communicates nega-
capacity. Pupils of the second group of ness of branch bank managers at a West tive feelings even more effectively, at
teachers learned much faster.1 Coast bank with over 500 branches. The times, than a tongue-lashing does. What
Moreover, the healing professions managers who had had their lending seems to be critical in the communi-
have long recognized that a physician’s authority reduced because of high rates cation of expectations is not what the
or psychiatrist’s expectations can have of loss became progressively less effec- boss says so much as the way he or she
a formidable influence on a patient’s tive. To prevent further loss of authority, behaves. Indifferent and noncommittal
physical or mental health. What takes they turned to making only “safe”loans. treatment, more often than not, is the
place in the minds of the patients and This action resulted in losses of business kind of treatment that communicates
the healers, particularly when they have to competing banks and a relative de- low expectations and leads to poor
congruent expectations, may determine cline in both deposits and profits at their performance.
MOTIVATING PEOPLE january 2003 7
BEST OF HBR
Common Illusions. Managers are sistant manager in charge of the high- though the expectancy of success con-
more effective in communicating low performance unit was unaware that his tinues to increase. No motivation or re-
expectations to their subordinates than manager considered him to be the best. sponse is aroused when the goal is per-
in communicating high expectations to In fact, he and the other agents doubted ceived as being either virtually certain
them, even though most managers be- that the agency manager really believed or virtually impossible to attain.
lieve exactly the opposite. It usually is there was any difference in their abili- Moreover, as Berlew and Hall have
astonishingly difficult for them to rec- ties. This agency manager was a stolid, pointed out, if subordinates fail to meet
ognize the clarity with which they trans- phlegmatic, unemotional woman who performance expectations that are close
mit negative feelings. To illustrate again: treated her agents in a rather pedestrian to their own level of aspirations, they
• The Rockaway district manager vig- way. Since high expectations had not will lower personal performance goals
orously denied that he had communi- been communicated to them, they did and standards, performance will tend to
cated low expectations to the agents in not understand the reason for the new drop off, and negative attitudes will de-
the poorest group who, he believed, did organization and could not see any point velop toward the activity or job.3 It is
not have any chance of becoming high in it. Clearly, the way managers treat sub- therefore not surprising that failure of
producers. Yet the message was clearly ordinates, not the way they organize subordinates to meet the unrealistically
received by those agents. A typical case them, is the key to high expectations and high expectations of their managers
was that of an agent who resigned from high productivity. leads to high rates of attrition, either
the low unit. When the district manager Impossible Dreams. Managers’ high voluntary or involuntary.
told the agent that he was sorry she was expectations must pass the test of re- Secret of Superiority. Something
leaving, the agent replied, “No you’re ality before they can be translated into takes place in the minds of superior man-
not; you’re glad.” Although the district performance. To become self-fulfilling agers that does not occur in the minds
manager previously had said nothing to prophecies, expectations must be made of those who are less effective. While
her, he had unintentionally communi- of sterner stuff than the power of posi- superior managers are consistently able
cated his low expectations to his agents tive thinking or generalized confidence to create high performance expectations
through his indifferent manner. Subse- in one’s subordinates – helpful as these that their subordinates fulfill, weaker
quently, the agents who were assigned concepts may be for some other pur- managers are not successful in obtain-
to the lowest unit interpreted the as- poses. Subordinates will not be moti- ing a similar response. What accounts
signment as equivalent to a request for vated to reach high levels of productiv- for the difference?
their resignation. ity unless they consider the boss’s high The answer, in part, seems to be that
• One of the company’s agency man- expectations realistic and achievable. If superior managers have greater confi-
agers established superior, average, and they are encouraged to strive for unat- dence than other managers in their own
low units, even though he was con- tainable goals, they eventually give up ability to develop the talents of their
vinced that he had no superior or out- trying and settle for results that are
standing subordinates.“All my assistant lower than they are capable of achiev-
managers and agents are either average ing. The experience of a large electrical A young person’s first
or incompetent,” he explained to the manufacturing company demonstrates manager is likely to be
Rockaway district manager. Although this; the company discovered that pro-
he tried to duplicate the Rockaway re- duction actually declined if production the most influential in
sults, his low opinions of his agents were quotas were set too high, because the that person’s career.
communicated–not so subtly–to them. workers simply stopped trying to meet
As a result, the experiment failed. them. In other words, the practice of
Positive feelings, on the other hand, “dangling the carrot just beyond the subordinates. Contrary to what might
often are not communicated clearly donkey’s reach,” endorsed by many man- be assumed, the high expectations of
enough. Another insurance agency managers, is not a good motivational device. superior managers are based primarily
ager copied the organizational changes Research by David C. McClelland of on what they think about themselves –
made at the Rockaway district office, Harvard University and John W. Atkin- about their own ability to select, train,
grouping the salespeople she rated highly son of the University of Michigan has and motivate their subordinates. What
with the best manager, the average demonstrated that the relationship of managers believe about themselves sub-
salespeople with an average manager, motivation to expectancy varies in the tly influences what they believe about
and so on. Improvement, however, did form of a bell-shaped curve.2 their subordinates, what they expect
not result from the move. The Rockaway The degree of motivation and effort of them, and how they treat them. If
district manager therefore investigated rises until the expectancy of success they have confidence in their ability to
the situation. He discovered that the as- reaches 50%, then begins to fall even develop and stimulate subordinates to
high levels of performance, they will ex- ing credentials. What managers believe fluenced by managerial expectations,
pect much of them and will treat them about their ability to train and motivate are critical in determining future per-
with confidence that their expectations subordinates clearly is the foundation formance and career progress.
will be met. But if they have doubts on which realistically high managerial In their study at AT&T, Berlew and
about their ability to stimulate subordi- expectations are built. Hall concluded that the correlation be-
nates, they will expect less of them and tween how much a company expects of
will treat them with less confidence. The Critical Early Years an employee in the first year and how
Stated in another way, the superior Managerial expectations have their much that employee contributes during
managers’ record of success and confi- most magical influence on young peo- the next five years was “too compelling
dence in their own ability give their ple. As subordinates mature and gain to be ignored.”5
high expectations credibility. As a con- experience, their self-image gradually Subsequently, the two men studied
sequence, their subordinates accept these hardens, and they begin to see them- the career records of 18 college gradu-
expectations as realistic and try hard to selves as their career records imply. ates who were hired as management
achieve them. Their own aspirations and the expecta- trainees in another of AT&T’s operat-
The importance of what a manager tions of their superiors become increas- ing companies. Again they found that
believes about his or her training and ingly controlled by the “reality” of their both expectations and performance in
motivational ability is illustrated by past performance. It becomes more and the first year correlated consistently
“Sweeney’s Miracle,” a managerial and more difficult for them and for their with later performance and success.
educational self-fulfilling prophecy. managers to generate mutually high ex- “Something important is happening
James Sweeney taught industrial man- pectations unless they have outstanding in the first year…,”Berlew and Hall con-
agement and psychiatry at Tulane Uni- records. cluded. “Meeting high company ex-
versity, and he also was responsible for Incidentally, the same pattern occurs pectations in the critical first year leads
the operation of the Biomedical Com- in school. Rosenthal’s experiments with to the internalization of positive job
puter Center there. Sweeney believed educational self-fulfilling prophecies attitudes and high standards; these at-
that he could teach even a poorly edu- consistently demonstrate that teachers’ titudes and standards, in turn, would
cated man to be a capable computer expectations are more effective in influ- first lead to and be reinforced by strong
operator. George Johnson, a former hos- encing intellectual growth in younger performance and success in later years.
pital porter, became janitor at the com- children than in older children. In the It should also follow that a new man-
puter center; he was chosen by Sweeney lower grade levels, particularly in the first ager who meets the challenge of one
to prove his conviction. In the mornings, and second grades, the effects of teach- highly demanding job will be given
Johnson performed his janitorial duties, ers’ expectations are dramatic. In the subsequently a more demanding job,
and in the afternoons Sweeney taught upper grade levels, teachers’ prophecies and his level of contribution will rise as
him about computers. seem to have little effect on children’s he responds to the company’s growing
Johnson was learning a great deal intellectual growth, although they do expectations of him. The key…is the
about computers when someone at the affect their motivation and attitude to- concept of the first year as a critical
university concluded that to be a com- ward school. While the declining in- period for learning, a time when the
puter operator one had to have a cer- fluence of teachers’ expectations cannot trainee is uniquely ready to develop or
tain IQ score. Johnson was tested, and be completely explained, it is reason- change in the direction of the com-
his IQ indicated that he would not be able to conclude that younger children pany’s expectations.”6
able to learn to type, much less operate are more malleable, have fewer fixed Most Influential Boss. A young per-
a computer. notions about their abilities, and have son’s first manager is likely to be the
But Sweeney was not convinced. He less well established reputations in the most influential in that person’s career.
threatened to quit unless Johnson was schools. As they grow, particularly if If managers are unable or unwilling to
permitted to learn to program and op- they are assigned to “tracks”on the basis develop the skills young employees
erate the computer. Sweeney prevailed, of their records, as is now often done in need to perform effectively, the latter
and he is still running the computer public schools, their beliefs about their will set lower personal standards than
center. Johnson is now in charge of the intellectual ability and their teachers’ they are capable of achieving, their
main computer room and is responsi- expectations of them begin to harden self-images will be impaired, and they
ble for training new employees to pro- and become more resistant to influence will develop negative attitudes toward
gram and operate the computer.4 by others. jobs, employers, and – in all probabil-
Sweeney’s expectations were based Key to Future Performance. The ity–their own careers in business. Since
on what he believed about his own early years in a business organization, the chances of building successful ca-
teaching ability, not on Johnson’s learn- when young people can be strongly in- reers with these first employers will
BEST OF HBR
decline rapidly, the employees will this area is more easily measured than concentrated in a few outstanding deal-
leave, if they have high aspirations, in in most managerial areas. Consider the erships. For instance, ten of the top 15
hope of finding better opportunities. If, following investigations: salespeople in New England were in
on the other hand, early managers help • In a study of the careers of 100 in- three (out of approximately 200) of the
employees achieve maximum potential, surance salespeople who began work dealerships in this region, and five of
they will build the foundations for suc- with either highly competent or less- the top 15 people were in one highly
cessful careers. than-competent agency managers, the successful dealership. Yet four of these
With few exceptions, the most effec- Life Insurance Agency Management people previously had worked for other
tive branch managers at the West Coast Association found that those with av- dealers without achieving outstanding
bank were mature people in their for- erage sales-aptitude test scores were sales records. There was little doubt that
ties and fifties. The bank’s executives nearly five times as likely to succeed the training and motivational skills of
explained that it took considerable time under managers with good perfor- managers in the outstanding dealer-
for a person to gain the knowledge, ex- mance records as under managers with ships were critical.
perience, and judgment required to han- poor records, and those with superior Astute Selection. While success in
dle properly credit risks, customer rela- sales-aptitude scores were found to be business sometimes appears to depend
tions, and employee relations. twice as likely to succeed under high- on the luck of the draw, more than luck
One branch manager, however, ranked performing managers as they were un- is involved when a young person is se-
in the top 10% of the managers in terms der low-performing managers.7 lected by a superior manager. Success-
of effectiveness (which included branch • The Metropolitan Life Insurance ful managers do not pick their subordi-
profit growth, deposit growth, scores on Company determined in 1960 that dif- nates at random or by the toss of a coin.
administrative audits, and subjective ferences in the productivity of new in- They are careful to select only those
rankings by superiors), was only 27 years surance agents who had equal sales ap- who they “know” will succeed. As Met-
old. This young person had been made titudes could be accounted for only by ropolitan’s Rockaway district manager,
a branch manager at 25, and in two years differences in the ability of managers in Alfred Oberlander, insisted: “Every man
had improved not only the performance the offices to which they were assigned. or woman who starts with us is going
of the branch substantially but also de-
veloped a younger assistant manager
who, in turn, was made a branch man- Industry’s greatest challenge is to rectify the
ager at 25.
underdevelopment, underutilization, and ineffective
The assistant had had only average
grades in college, but in just four years management and use of its most valuable resource –
at the bank had been assigned to work
its young managerial and professional talent.
with two branch managers who were re-
markably effective teachers. The first
boss, who was recognized throughout Agents whose productivity was high in to be a top-notch life insurance agent, or
the bank for unusual skill in developing relation to their aptitude test scores in- he or she would not have been asked to
young people, did not believe that it took variably were employed in offices that join the team.”
years to gain the knowledge and skill had production records among the top When pressed to explain how they
needed to become an effective banker. third in the company. Conversely, those “know” whether a person will be suc-
After two years, the young person was whose productivity was low in relation cessful, superior managers usually end
made assistant manager at a branch to their test scores typically were in the up by saying something like,“The qual-
headed by another executive, who also least successful offices. After analyzing ities are intangible, but I know them
was an effective developer of subordi- all the factors that might have ac- when I see them.” They have difficulty
nates. Thus it was that the young person, counted for these variations, the com- being explicit because their selection
when promoted to head a branch, confi- pany concluded that differences in the process is intuitive and is based on inter-
dently followed the model of two previ- performance of new agents were due personal intelligence that is difficult to
ous superiors in operating the branch, primarily to differences in the “profi- describe. The key seems to be that they
quickly established a record of out- ciency in sales training and direction” are able to identify subordinates with
standing performance, and trained an of the local managers.8 whom they can probably work effec-
assistant to assume responsibility early. • A study I conducted of the perfor- tively – people with whom they are
For confirming evidence of the crucial mance of automobile salespeople in compatible and whose body chemistry
role played by a person’s first bosses, let Ford dealerships in New England re- agrees with their own. They make mis-
us turn to selling, since performance in vealed that superior salespersons were takes, of course. But they give up on a
subordinate slowly because that means is underscored by the sharply rising Thus ineffective first-line sales man-
giving up on themselves–on their judg- rates of attrition among young mana- agement sets off a sequence of events
ment and ability in selecting, training, gerial and professional personnel. Turn- that ends with college and university
and motivating people. Less effective over among managers one to five years graduates avoiding careers in selling. To
managers select subordinates more out of college is almost twice as high a lesser extent, the same pattern is du-
quickly and give up on them more eas- now as it was a decade ago, and five plicated in other functions of business,
ily, believing that the inadequacy is that times as high as two decades ago. Three as evidenced by the growing trend of
of the subordinate, not of themselves. out of five companies surveyed by college graduates to pursue careers in
Fortune in the fall of 1968 reported that “more meaningful”occupations, such as
Developing Young People turnover among young managers and teaching and government service.
Observing that his company’s research professionals is higher than five years A serious “generation gap” between
indicates that “initial corporate expec- ago.10 While the high level of economic bosses and subordinates is another sig-
tations for performance (with real re- activity and the shortage of skilled per- nificant cause of breakdown. Many
sponsibility) mold subsequent expecta- sonnel have made job-hopping easier, managers resent the abstract, academic
tions and behavior,” R.W. Walters, Jr., the underlying causes of high attrition, language and narrow rationalization
director of college employment at I am convinced, are underdevelopment characteristically used by recent gradu-
AT&T, contends that “initial bosses of and underutilization of a workforce that ates. As one manager expressed it to me,
new college hires must be the best in has high career aspirations. “For God’s sake, you need a lexicon even
the organization.”9 Unfortunately, how- The problem can be seen in its ex- to talk with these kids.” Nondegreed
ever, most companies practice exactly treme form in the excessive attrition managers often are particularly resent-
the opposite. rates of college and university graduates ful, perhaps because they feel threat-
Rarely do new graduates work closely who begin their careers in sales posi- ened by the bright young people with
with experienced middle managers or tions. Whereas the average company book-learned knowledge that they do
upper-level executives. Normally they loses about 50% of its new college and not understand.
are bossed by first-line managers who university graduates within three to five For whatever reason, the generation
tend to be the least experienced and years, attrition rates as high as 40% in gap in many companies is eroding
least effective in the organization. While the first year are common among col- managerial expectations of new college
there are exceptions, first-line managers lege graduates who accept sales posi- graduates. For instance, I know of a
generally are either “old pros”who have tions in the average company. This at- survey of management attitudes in one
been judged as lacking competence for trition stems primarily, in my opinion, of the nation’s largest companies that
higher levels of responsibility, or they from the failure of first-line managers revealed that 54% of its first-line and
are younger people who are making to teach new college recruits what second-line managers believed that new
the transition from “doing” to “manag- they need to know to be effective sales college recruits were “not as good as
ing.” Often these managers lack the representatives. they were five years ago.” Since what
knowledge and skill required to develop As we have seen, young people who managers expect of subordinates influ-
the productive capabilities of their sub- begin their careers working for less- ences the way they treat them, it is un-
ordinates. As a consequence, many col- than-competent sales managers are derstandable that new graduates often
lege graduates begin their careers in likely to have records of low productiv- develop negative attitudes toward their
business under the worst possible cir- ity. When rebuffed by their customers jobs and their employers. Clearly, low
cumstances. Since they know their abil- and considered by their managers to managerial expectations and hostile at-
ities are not being developed or used, have little potential for success, the titudes are not the basis for effective
they quite naturally soon become nega- young people naturally have great diffi- management of new people entering
tive toward their jobs, employers, and culty in maintaining their self-esteem. business.
business careers. Soon they find little personal satisfac- •••
Although most top executives have not tion in their jobs and, to avoid further Industry has not developed effective
yet diagnosed the problem, industry’s loss of self-respect, leave their employers first-line managers fast enough to meet
greatest challenge by far is to rectify the for jobs that look more promising. its needs. As a consequence, many com-
underdevelopment, underutilization, Moreover, as reports about the high panies are underdeveloping their most
and ineffective management and use of turnover and disillusionment of those valuable resource–talented young men
its most valuable resource – its young who embarked on sales careers filter and women. They are incurring heavy
managerial and professional talent. back to college campuses, new gradu- attrition costs and contributing to the
Disillusion and Turnover. The prob- ates become increasingly reluctant to negative attitudes young people often
lem posed to corporate management take jobs in sales. have about careers in business.
BEST OF HBR
For top executives in industry who they are skillful and have high expecta- 4. Rosenthal and Jacobson, p. 3.
are concerned with organizational pro- tions, subordinates’ self-confidence will 5. Berlew and Hall, p. 221.
6. David E. Berlew and Douglas T. Hall, “Some De-
ductivity and the careers of young em- grow, their capabilities will develop, and terminants of Early Managerial Success,” Alfred P.
ployees, the challenge is clear: to speed their productivity will be high. More Sloan School of Management Organization Re-
search Program #81-64 (MIT, 1964), p. 13.
the development of managers who will often than one realizes, the manager
7. Robert T. Davis,“Sales Management in the Field,”
treat subordinates in ways that lead to is Pygmalion. HBR January–February 1958, p. 91.
high performance and career satisfac- 8. Alfred A. Oberlander,“The Collective Conscience
1. The Rosenthal and Headstart studies are cited in in Recruiting,” address to Life Insurance Agency
tion. Managers not only shape the expec- Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, Pygmalion Management Association annual meeting, Chicago,
tations and productivity of subordinates in the Classroom (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Illinois, 1963, p. 5.
1968), p.11.
but also influence their attitudes toward 9.“How to Keep the Go-Getters,” Nation’s Business,
2. See John W. Atkinson, “Motivational Determi- June 1966, p. 74.
their jobs and themselves. If managers nants of Risk-Taking Behavior,” Psychological Review,
10. Robert C. Albrook, “Why It’s Harder to Keep
are unskilled, they leave scars on the vol. 64, no. 6, 1957, p. 365.
Good Executives,” Fortune, November 1968, p. 137.
careers of young people, cut deeply into 3. David E. Berlew and Douglas T. Hall, “The
Socialization of Managers: Effects of Expectations
their self-esteem, and distort their image on Performance,” Administrative Science Quarterly,
Reprint r0301g
of themselves as human beings. But if September 1966, p. 208. To place an order, call 1-800-988-0886.

Pygmalion in Management: by J. Sterling Livingston

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pygmalion in Management: by J. Sterling Livingston

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pygmalion in Management

HBR Case Study ro3o1a

Beyond Empowerment: Building ro3o1c

How to Motivate Your Problem People ro3o1d

What’s Wrong with Executive ro3o1e

One More Time: How Do You ro3o1f

Pygmalion in Management ro3o1g

Management by Whose Objectives? ro3o1h

Power Is the Great Motivator ro3o1j

Fair Process: Managing in the ro3o1k

6 harvard business review

MOTIVATING PEOPLE january 2003 7

8 harvard business review

MOTIVATING PEOPLE january 2003 9

10 harvard business review

MOTIVATING PEOPLE january 2003 11

12 harvard business review

You might also like