The Hawthorne effect is supposed to refer to a type of reactivity in which individuals

modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. (“What is
the Hawthorne Effect, n.d.”) This phenomenon is named after the Hawthorne suburb of Chicago,
where the Western Electric Company conducted industrial production experiments during the
late 1920s and early 1930s. The Hawthorne Effect describes the curious reality or tendency that
humans under observation usually perform better than those who are unobserved. This means
that when designing a case study observation, you need to be aware of this effect. (Perez. 2016)
Securing the highest form of productivity from employees is critical to the profitability of any
business therefore understanding the Hawthorne effect will help and enhance productivity in the
workplace. This can also help in creating a management style to enhance performance of day to
day activity in an organization. The experiment was a series of studies on measuring the
productivity of workers and managing employees so they feel they are an integral part of the
organization
The Hawthorne Effect is largely about managing employees so they feel more like an
integral part of your business. Encouraging employee input into workplace decisions and
operational decisions tends to make employees feel more like part of a cohesive team striving to
achieve the common goal of making the business more profitable. One of the first steps you can
take to induce the Hawthorne effect in your own business is to try to put yourself inside
the perspective of your employees and attempt to see your business operation from their
perspective. From this point, attempt to determine what you could do to enhance a feeling of
teamwork and greater participation in the overall success of the business. For example, you could
periodically hold focus group meetings with employees to get their input on changes to the
operating procedures that could improve their working conditions. Another step that can make
employees feel more connected and appreciated is to make sure that management personnel are
located nearby and easily accessible when employees may have questions. Part of the research
on the Hawthorne effect determined that employees tend to be more productive when they feel
that their efforts are being watched and that attention is paid to their performance. Because the
Hawthorne studies concluded that generally any change in the workplace tends to induce the
Hawthorne effect, it may be a good idea to make changes periodically. Such changes can be as
simple as those in the original Hawthorne studies, such as changing the lighting. The most
effective changes are likely to be those that result from employee input. Boosting productivity
from your employees is as simple as paying more attention to them and their needs and concerns.
Making employees feel more appreciated encourages them to improve their performance.
(https://www.economist.com/news/2008/11/03/the-hawthorne-effect, n.d.)
The advantages or benefits and strength of the Hawthorne experiment are many, some of
the benefits are that the method allows clear identification or recognition of the concerns of the
workers, it solves productivity issues in a sustainable and long term basis, if it is properly and
accurately modeled and it brings forth consistency in the assessment of the working situation
when management needs to carry out long term envisioning.
Some of the disadvantages of the method are that on the whole, the accuracy of the
productivity model is highly correlated on, mostly, the judgment and the acumen of the manager.
It also becomes difficult to identify the critical working environment attributes as some are
intrinsic like organization dynamics etc. and the model needs to be updated constant to reflect
actual situations.