M9 (Lawton)
After reviewing the Hawthorne studies video, for this week’s class discussion, what, if any, has even your experience with the Hawthorne effect on the job?
In my past work experiences, I have definitely seen the Hawthorne effect in action. The Hawthorne effect can be either positive or negative depending on the context of your work environment. I have experienced both the positive and negative effects in my past jobs. I remember at a previous job our management was monitoring us very closely and ultimately decided to take our chairs away in an attempt to boost productivity with the expectation of increased sales. This negatively impacted the team to the point where people were considering leaving. Morale was down and the exact opposite result was yielded. People just weren’t as inclined to push sales since they were forced to stand all day with minimal breaks.
2) Describe a supervisor who was a poor supervisor (un-motivating, indecisive, uncaring, etc.) — what were their characteristics or actions that made you feel that way?
I used to work for the Food & Beverage department of a catering company. This was literally the worst experience I have ever had with a manager/supervisor. My manager was always in such a mood and could never tone her voice down so she was always yelling at her employees. She never understood that employees have limits and would constantly be putting the pressure on you to work faster and harder even though there was no incentive to do so. It was obvious that she let her feelings and personal matters affect her behavior at work. There were times where it was clear she had been drinking which put her into an even worse state. Upper management never did anything to address her since she was there for so long. She was un-motivating, uncaring, reckless, and above all rude. I am glad to no longer be apart of that destructive environment.