Increase Revenue and Productivity! Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne Effect derived a study in the 1920-1930's at the Hawthorne Works manufacture. The researchers wanted to test if subtle change would increase workers productivity and of course that would mean more revenues. They did experiments on lighting making them brighter in the work place and employee's working in groups rather then individually. In all the research the productivity increased with every test. For awhile different companies took the research and ran with the idea that brighter lights would increase productivity, but as soon as the results increased it would decrease just the same. Then it was found that it wasn't the lighting that increased productivity. The source of the increase was the testing when workers know you are testing something or measuring something they produce more and work harder. It's a psychological effect that when people are measured on what they do, they work harder feeling that if they are measured they cannot come in last.

I've dealt with this effect before, when our workers knowing that management is measuring their productivity or when we say we are going to monitor their work by watching them, they always seem to do more rather then less. Let's take the example of a bar, tell the bartenders you will monitor how much they ring up in alcohol per customer in the venue. Tell them you will document this to review at a later date on performance, across the board I bet you will have increase revenue and productivity. Sometimes just telling someone that they will be monitored on performance will do the trick being that Hawthorne Effect is psychological. Try it pertaining to your industry and reap the benefits of it for at least a little while.