M9

For my first Internship at a solar company I didn’t have any official supervision. I was taught the trade by two senior members and I reported to them so they were in effect my supervisors. My experiences with both were very nice. I did a lot of grunt work but there was something new everyday. I worked my way towards a paid position as a solar roof installer in a crew of 3 three but still was very much a jack of all trades, cleaning, buying hardware, and forklifting out panels from a shipping container, and the regular solar installations. The amount of work done for each day varied wildly so some mistakes did happen, nothing too serious. There was one week where we installed 3 solar systems in 4 days. The crew was amazed how fast I was able to pick up the necessary skills and roof installments that almost always took at least 2 days rather than one we were cranking out. I was always encouraged. I had already shown my strong work ethic as an intern so I was mostly left to my own devices. Briefed each morning on what was to be done and to give updates on current progress. My upper supervisor who briefed us didn’t observe us directly but he gave us the cumulative total of panels we put up, the miles of strut we were using, and the kilowatts of power that we put on the grid. By the end of summer the 3 of us put up something like 800 panels and quarter of a million watts added to the grid about 1/30th of a natural gas plant. So even on bad days we still could look at what we had done.

My overall experience was overwhelmingly positive. And the worst days weren’t so bad. Two days I can think of were the rainy days and the day of doing nothing. So We’re were doing a ground mount with 80 some panels we spent about 3 hours on building it (with prefabricated A frames. Then we got a call from Golden Valley Electric that we didn’t have approval for the mount. This happened often a lower level worker would approve our projects then an upper manager would see it and call it off. So we cease working and call our upper management on what to do. We had planned working on the ground mount the next 3 or so days and most of our strut had been put towards building these massive A frames (like 20 feet tall). Upper management scrambled through the next few projects and we were split up with our electrician going to a different house while we finished a steel roof with a preinstalled inverter. Our electrician was by far the most senior member of the crew and the 2 of us reported to him and were assigned roles. So myself and a coworker of about 2 months my senior went to the steel roof. It then started to rain by the time we arrived. Working in the rain always sucks on the steel roof. It is downright dangerous and should never be done; it is simply too slippery with a long fall. tile roofs are manageable in the rain. In our inexperience we attempted to install anchors thinking that with them installed we could effectively install the panels however we managed to put one anchor in in 3 hours that normally takes about half an hour. My coworker feared telling uppermangement but I was at my limit and said that it was unnecessarily dangerous, slow and we needed to go back another day. So we called uppermangement, explained, and within 15 minutes we were packing up to join our electrician supervisor. We got to the house, set up the ladder, checked the roof, only to see that the roofer who installed the tiles had no idea what they were doing. No caulk was sealing the tiles down, the nails had almost no head so the nails just ripped the tiles. We knew the drill at this point called upper management and said that we could not install on this roof. The scary part is that this was a suburbia all the houses look the same and probably had the work done by the same crew so I wouldn’t be surprised if all the houses were like that. By this time our work day was done and mostly nothing had been aclominsted and we were paid to sit in the rain. When we went back our uppermanager just said good job today, some days are just bad. I was glad that our unproductive day didn’t count against us.

If you are paid by an individual, company, or organization to provide a service or a product there is most likely a standard of work that must be met in order to maintain a productive work environment and bring value to your employment. In the 1920’s and 1930’s a set of experiments were conducted, and the effects of the studies measured in productivity in addition to an employee’s engagement in the workplace. The findings of the study “suggests that workers tend to change their behavior at work in response to the attention they receive from their supervisor” (Corporate Finance Institute, n.d.). This came to be known as the Hawthorne effect. Within the Los Angeles Fire Department, effective supervisors apply at least some of the principles, whether consciously known or not, from the study that was originally performed at the General Electric company. Performance, productivity, and job satisfaction are real effects from LAFD members that are consistently and positively engaged by their supervisors. From personal observations, supervisors that are mentally and physically present and accountable to their members, more frequently have employees and subordinates that are more engaged, have increased work productivity, and fewer disciplinary issues.
Given the culture and 150-year history of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), there have been some exceptional supervisors who have left a lasting impression long after their retirement from the Fire Service. Retired Chief Deputy Joe Castro held the second highest rank with the LAFD and served as the Emergency Operations Commander. Some of the outstanding characteristics that Castro possessed and conveyed to his members were approachability, a sincere interest in a member’s well-being, and a vested interest in every member’s ability to safely and effectively perform the duties required of their position/rank. In comparison, the Hawthorne effect identified “that employees, be it in the 1920s or a hundred years later, want to be heard and valued. That is what increases their motivation level, and the final outcome is enhanced productivity. Happier employees are more productive employees” (Mallick, 2018). An effective supervisor’s characteristics do not always come naturally, and more frequently than not, require an active and consistent assessment and self-reflection. One way to increase your effectiveness as a supervisor or leader, is to create pathways for mentorship and honest feedback. A humble supervisor that is open minded and can exercise humility with feedback stands a far greater chance of improving their relationships with their employees, their job satisfaction and happiness, that can lead to increased productivity moving forward.

References
Corporate Finance Institute. (2019, May 20). Hawthorne Effect: The Changing of Behavior Due to an Awareness of Being Observed. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/soft-skills/hawthorne-effect/

Mallick, A. (2018, April 1). The Hawthorne Effect: A Precursor to Employee Productivity. Business Manager. https://www.businessmanager.in/the-hawthorne-effect-a-precursor-to-employee-productivity.php

After reviewing the Hawthorne Studies video, for this week’s Class Discussion, what, if any, has been your experience with the Hawthorne effect on a job? Answer this question and then choose one of the following to answer:
1) Describe a supervisor who inspired and motivated you — what were their characteristics or actions that made such a positive impact?
2) Describe a supervisor who was a poor supervisor (unmotivating, indecisive, uncaring, etc.) – what were their characteristics or actions that made you feel that way?

After watching the Hawthorne Studies video, I have had multiple experiences with it, but mainly when I worked at my first Police Department. I worked incredibly hard and never said no to working shifts and was always being listened to and watched while working as a police dispatcher and a Special Law Enforcement Officer I. Being a vital role, you were always being watched to make sure you were doing the right thing and making sure your job was being done correctly. Sadly, not everyone had the same idea and did not display the same amount of professionalism 24/7. Mainly on dayshifts, there is always Supervisors (Chief of Police, Captain’s and Lieutenant’s) working as opposed to night shift where it was just usually a Sergeant and your officers. I myself personally had two co-workers who always worked the night shift, but one of them never showed up for her shifts, and it would result in me getting forced to stay over and no consequences for this employee’s actions. The second employee was constantly sleeping on night shifts and was never getting reported because no one was really observing what was actually going on. In fact, these two employees were rewarded with their “hard work” by being sent to the police academy with me for SLEO I, which was a complete slap to the face. Despite the sadness and frustration I felt, I continued to do my job properly and continue to act professional at all times.

Throughout all of this, I had my one Lieutenant by my side and always there for me through my academic and law enforcement career. He has inspired me and motivated me since I met him. For starters, he has over 20 years of experience and started the same way I did. My Lieutenant definitely was professional, respectful, encouraging, kind, and overall an amazing Supervisor. He was always there to listen and help you at work and even outside of work he was always there to help any of his employees. For me personally, my experience at the Police Department for the two years I worked there, they were not the best, in which I sadly endured mean girls, not so nice comments that were said behind my back, as well my other supervisors making comments about me. Throughout my time working, my Lieutenant was always made aware of what was happening and did his absolute best to help me and fix what was happening. Although, I resigned from the department and transferred to a different Department, I still am very close to my Lieutenant and still keep in touch with him, truly because he has become a mentor to me.