a picture of employees
Frederick Taylor’s scientific management theory, the earliest management theory, dating from 1911. Many others have been born from it. Including the bureaucratic theory of Max Weber and the organizational management theory of Mary Parker Follett. The many hypotheses finally brought forth the movement for human connections. It symbolizes a significant management change that promotes a more personal management type. Here are the fundamental principles of the movement and their impact on the management style today.
Who began the movement for human relations?
Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger created the movement for human connections via the Hawthorne investigations. The research initially focused on how physical circumstances like lighting influenced employees’ productivity. Still, the investigations showed that others seeing them significantly affects the performance of employees.
In other words, staff efficiency is affected by interactions between employees and management. When their employer examines workers, they are more driven to do good – the Hawthorne effect.
Also, the motivation of the employees was boosted as part of a group and a specific duty inside that group. Workers believe that their objectives fit with the broader goals of their team and are beneficial for their jobs.
Relations between human and human resources
Some management forms are based, if not mostly, on the principles of the movement for human relations. An HR department, not to mention the HR department, is necessary for personnel management. This distinction poses the question: What is the difference between human and human resources?
All interactions between workers and your organization include human relationships. This includes how your workers engage with you, your staff, customers, and other employees. The objective of human relations is to guarantee that your workers, not the latter at the price of the former, are as happy and productive as feasible.
Human resources ignore human interactions and mostly see your workers as resources. An HR manager or an outsourced human resources business might see your workforce as a significant gear on your machine and sometimes think about their requirements and wishes. This distinguishing is partly because your HR team can reduce your risk, a goal that is sometimes contrary to the enjoyment of its staff.
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor later established two conflicting perspectives of motivation for the employee – Theory X and Theory Y. According to McGregor’s book The Human Side of Enterprise from 1960, these are the fundamentals of both theories:
Theory X: Negative workers’ perspective in management
- In the interest of economic purposes, management must be accountable for arranging components of the firm.
- Managers should lead, encourage and monitor the activities of workers, and change the behavior of employees to meet their organizational needs.
- Managers need to convince, reward, discipline, regulate and halt the passivity and resistance of workers.
Theory Y: Positive workers’ perspective in management
- In the interest of economic purposes, management must be accountable for arranging components of the firm.
- Organizational demand passivity or resistance develops with organizational experience.
- Motivation, development potential, capacity to take responsibility, and willingness to conduct themselves directly towards corporate goals are, of course, encouraged by individuals.
- Management should, above all, focus on building a structure that enables employees to accomplish their ambitions in line with their corporate goals.
Theory Y shared parallels with the movement for human connections and noted that employees are driven and efficient. However, the American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, created a hierarchy need theory to show employee incentives for good performance, as mentioned by McGregor in his book. The physiological requirements, security needs, social needs, ego needs, and need to satisfy oneself range from the lowest to the highest hierarchy.
These two ideas were significant additions to management studies, and progress was made by connecting individual requirements with organizational requirements by the human relations movement.