The Theory of Motivation by Frederick W. Taylor, Elton Mayo, and the Human Relations School
The Theory of Motivation proposed by Frederick W. Taylor, Elton Mayo, and the Human Relations School in the early 1900s aimed to optimize worker performance to achieve organizational goals. These anthropocentric, scientific theories sought to foster organizational success through understanding workers and their capacity to improve productivity. Though these theories of motivation were not without polarizing criticism, they remain a major contributor to management strategies in todays business world.
Frederick W. Taylor was one of the first theorists of motivation, presenting his principles of scientific management in the early 1900s. Inspired by the industrial revolution, Taylor analyzed how the nature of work could be changed and improved. He proposed that management should provide workers with beneficial working conditions, a fair salary and incentives to motivate them to do their best. Taylor believed that planning was an essential part of achieving peak performance and argued for routinized tasks and exercises that would allow for consistent productivity levels.
Elton Mayo was another influential theorist of motivation. After years of intensive study in industrial psychology, Mayo developed the Hawthorne Effect, which focused on the human relations within the workplace. He argued that management should not consider workers merely as machines to be used, but rather as individuals with emotions, needs, and desires. Another major aspect of his theory was the importance of morale within the workplace and the potential it holds to influence motivation. He argued that workers must feel respected and secure in order to be productive.
The Human Relations School furthered the preceding theories and proposed the idea of employee involvement and the inextricable link between motivation and job satisfaction. They argued for increased employee autonomy and the recognition of individual and group goals and identities. This lead to the realization that employee engagement was key in achieving optimal productivity and that leaders needed to focus on the social and psychological needs of employees in order to maximize performance.
Though Taylor, Mayo and the Human Relations School proposed different approaches to workplace motivation, each of their theories had a common goal: to maximize organizational performance in the most efficient way. Amidst intense debates about their validity and application to the modern workplace, these theories of motivation remain relevant, continuing to influence management strategy to this day.
