| I have long held the view that the successful | | | | In summary 3 further general conclusions were |
| strategies for managing change and the leadership | | | | drawn from the Hawthorne studies: |
| styles in practical change management that | | | | (1) Individual production is strongly influenced by |
| support those strategies are people centric rather | | | | social factors - far more so than individual |
| than totally process oriented. | | | | aptitude. |
| Whilst undertaking research for a section of my | | | | (2) Informal organisation affects productivity - |
| website I came across a very interesting | | | | there is "a group life" among the workers - and |
| experiment. | | | | the relations that supervisors develop with |
| A major business improvement research project | | | | workers tend to influence the manner in which |
| was conducted between 1927 and 1932 at the | | | | the workers carry out directives. |
| Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric | | | | (3) Work-group norms affect productivity - work |
| Company in Cicero, Illinois. | | | | groups tend to arrive at norms of what is "a fair |
| This research project was not about inspirational | | | | day's work". |
| motivation, or leadership, or change management | | | | So the obvious first change management lesson |
| - but an attempt to examine the physical and | | | | of this is that people benefit from a leadership |
| environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. | | | | style that addresses their need for your |
| brightness of lights, humidity) and later, moved | | | | supportive attention. |
| into the psychological aspects (e.g. breaks, group | | | | Also the second lesson is that in the practice of |
| pressure, working hours, managerial leadership). | | | | change management leaders need to recognise |
| However, the major finding of the study was a | | | | and work with and through the informal social |
| totally unintended and unexpected consequence | | | | structures of the workplace. |
| of the study. | | | | Properly applied, this is exactly what a |
| What they found was that almost regardless of | | | | people-oriented leadership style will deliver when |
| the experimental manipulation employed, the | | | | employing the holistic and wide view perspective |
| production of the workers seemed to improve! | | | | of a programme based approach to change |
| This has become known as "The Hawthorne | | | | management. |
| Effect". | | | | And, to ensure that you ARE employing |
| Stated simply the discovery was that: people | | | | successful strategies for managing change - that |
| work better together when they are allowed to | | | | are appropriate to your organisation - you need |
| socially interact with one another and are given | | | | to know how to apply: (a) these people oriented |
| supportive attention. | | | | leadership skills, AND (b) how to apply the |
| The primary [at the time startling] discovery was | | | | supporting programme management based |
| that the workplace is a social system. The | | | | processes - to ensure that you avoid the |
| Hawthorne researchers came to realise that the | | | | catastrophic 70% failure rate of ALL business |
| workplace is a social system made up of | | | | change initiatives. |
| interdependent parts. | | | | |