Individual and team output have significant role on organization productivity and growth. According to ATTTechChannel (2011), the Hawthorne studies of 1924 to 1933 showed the most significant aspects that influence workplace productivity. Before the studies, managers, and supervisors overemphasized production without considering what physical, economic, and social elements impact workers’ output. The results of the illumination studies at the relay assembly room revealed that while physical and economic factors are instrumental predictors of productivity, social influences are the most important ones.
Better lighting of the working environment, fewer working hours, and increased rest hours are some of the physical factors that led to improved productivity due to good working environment and the absence of fatigue among the workers. Lee et al. (2020) supported the findings by indicating that long working hours and poor working conditions cause productivity loss and inefficiencies. Adequate resting hours allow the employees to reenergize and refresh their minds, positively impacting their productivity.
Economic incentives such as increased salaries motivate workers to produce more. Interestingly, the findings of the illumination studies noted that this factor alone cannot guarantee and sustain higher productivity (ATTTechChannel, 2011). This element requires a combination of other influences that workers’ satisfaction. Therefore, employees should always consider integrating motivation with meeting other needs for the workers, such as healthy and better working conditions to have an enhanced output.
Social factors are the critical determinant of higher productivity in organizations. The illumination studies’ findings indicate that feeling of being valuable among the participants, attention, and recognition given to them, cohesive work groups, participation, among other social factors led to 30% increased productivity (ATTTechChannel, 2011). These elements establish social systems in organizations that encourage participative and informal groups. Abbas (2018) supports the findings by noting that informal groups and workers’ participation facilitate effective communication, workers’ satisfaction, and higher productivity. Indeed, the outcome of the Hawthorne studies made organizational management emphasize more on employee satisfaction to guarantee higher productivity.
References
Abbas, A. A. (2018). Influence of informal groups on productivity: A case study on philadelphia pharmaceuticals company. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(7), 421–435. Web.
Lee, D. W., Lee, J., Kim, H. R., & Kang, M. Y. (2020). Association of long working hours and health‐related productivity loss, and its differential impact by income level: A cross‐sectional study of the Korean workers. Journal of Occupational Health, 62(1), 1–11. Web.
ATTTechChannel. (2011). The year they discovered people [Video]. YouTube. Web.