HUMAN RELATION

MOVEMENT
 Introduction
 “Human relation” is a term often used to describe the ways in which
managers interact with their subordinates .

 Human relations movement refers to the researchers of organizational

development who study the behavior of people in groups , in particular
workplace groups .

 It also examined the effects of social relations , motivation and employee

satisfaction on factory productivity . The movement viewed workers in
terms of their psychology and fit with companies , rather than as
interchangeable parts.
 In the beginning, the focus was mainly on improving efficiency,
motivation, and productivity. But over time, this research became
more involved with redefining the nature of work and perceiving
workers as complex human beings .

 A group of Harvard researches , headed by Elton Mayo , known as

the founder of the Human Relations Movement conducted a series
of experiments on worker productivity in 1924 at the Hawthorne
plant of Western Electric Company in Illinois .
 According to Mayo, to achieve its goals, the organization must attempt to understand
and respect the emotions, sense of recognition and satisfaction of non-monetary needs of
the workers.
 The Human Relations Movement held that:
– Individual are motivated by social needs and good on-the-job relationships and
respond better to work-group pressure than to management control activities.
– Organizations are co-operative social systems.
– Satisfaction of psychological needs should be the primary concern of the
management.
– The worker’s main concern-satisfaction of their needs other than those of monetary
nature.
 When the “personnel management” stimulates the production of more and
better work , we have good human relations in the organization. When the
morale and efficiency deteriorate, human relations are deficient.

 To create good human relationships, managers need to know why

employees act like they do and what social and psychological factors
motivate them.
 BASIC IDEAS OF MAYO’s HUMAN
RELATION MOVEMENT
1. Supervisors should not act like supervisors -- they
should be friends, counselors to the workers

2. Managers should not try to micro-manage -- there

should be no overriding concern for production

3. People should be periodically asked how they feel

about their work -- and their supervisors

4. Humanistic supervision plus morale equals

productivity – this is the Mayo formula
5. Humor and sarcasm are good in the
workplace -- it's all part of group dynamics

6. Workers should be consulted before any

changes -- and participate in change decisions

7. Employees who leave should be exit-

interviewed -- turnover should be kept to a
minimum
 Elton Mayo’s Belief
 Individual workers cannot be treated in isolation, but must be seen as members of a
group.

 Monetary incentives and good working condition are less important to the
individual than the need to belong to a group.

 Informal or unofficial groups formed at work have a strong influence on the

behaviour of those workers in a group.

 Managers must be aware of these 'social needs' and cater for them to ensure that
employees collaborate with the official organisation rather than work against it.

 Believed that workers are not just concerned with money but could be better
motivated by having their social needs met whilst at work
 Motivation of Mayo’s Theory
• Mayo studied and looked at how changing
physical factors improved people's
performance.
• He found out that it wasn't the physical
conditions being changed that made people
work harder but instead the following.
• Working in a team with a leader.
• Better communication.
So he conclude that :
• Better communication between managers
and workers
• Greater manager involvement in employees
working
• Working in groups or teams