Elton Mayo's Theory Of Employee Motivation

Theories on employee motivation have existed since the 19th century, beginning with Elton mayo’s famous studies at the Hawthorne factory of the western electric company in Chicago from 1924 to 1932. Mayo’s research revealed that workers were not only solely driven by monetary benefits (organizational space) but were motivated by social elements as well (team space). In fact, social elements like communications, teamwork, and employee involvement can lead to better work performance even when work conditions are worsening. The Hawthorne studies give birth to the study of employee management and highlighted importance of addressing the human needs of workers.

Following mayo’s classic work, numerous long standing theories have been developed about

Motivators are more personalized factors (personal space) that give people feelings of achievement, recognition, enrichment and growth. This may include job responsibilities, position, title authority and learning opportunities. In the three-space model, hygiene factors represent things found in organizational space, such as salary, benefits, job security, work conditions, policies and safety, and also team space such as interpersonal relationships and

1. Achievements – attain realistic but challenging goals and gain advancement in the job; 2. Power – lead and have their ideas prevail; and 3. Affiliation – cooperative relationships with others, these three needs are not mutually exclusive. People may be motivated by one or two or all three elements. Some people may be motivated by achievement and affiliation while others are partially motivated by all the three. An organization should try to formulate jobs and responsibilities that best fit i the individual needs.

John Stacy Adam’s equity theory (1963) sates the importance of fairness when managing groups of employees. Workers seek a fair balance between what they put into their jobs (inputs) and what they get out of it (outcomes); employees want to be treated fairly and likely to compare their treatment to that of their peers. This theory recognizes the motivational force of organizational space when rewarding for performance and how favoritism and inequities in the system can lead to job dissatisfaction and