Performance Management & Accountability

Back to Basics - The Hawthorne Effect

Understanding the drivers behind human behaviour can be fascinating. The simplicity and powerful impact that a fundamental principle like the Hawthorne effect can have on employee productivity is staggering. And the wonderful thing about it, is that is doesn't have to cost anything, It doesn't take much effort to implement and the results are there every time!

The Hawthorne Effect is a principle that has been proven over and over that when people are being observed, tracked, measured and held accountable, their behaviour changes. As a Lean Six Sigma practitioner working in contact centers for more than three decades, I live and die by the expression...

"You can't manage what you don't measure"

Most contact center representatives can spend more than 60% of their time off of the phone working on non-phone activities. While telephony service metrics are in abundance, the same rigour to the other 60% of their work does not exist (in most cases). Lean and Six Sigma is premised on measuring every task or there will be no understanding of how well it is being done. Without measurement, there can be no analysis to isolate needed improvements, no benchmarking, no decision making. Moreover, without it employees lack clarity on what defines success, what they need to do to progress in their jobs, and what their areas for improvement are. From the organizational perspective, measurement allows for informed decisions. Trade offs can be made with full knowledge of both the financial and other impacts of either doing or not doing something. When 60% of the work is "off the radar", that represents 60% of the business that you cannot manage....sounds scary yet believe it or not it still is the norm.

The Hawthorne Effect can transform unmotivated, under-performing employees into star performers over night. This requires a cultural change, the formation of habits and the integration of measures and goals with performance reviews, quality evaluation programs, motivational programs, operational strategy and overall approach to business. After a while it starts to work on it's own because everyone understands what they need to do .

Eric Young
President
Tele-Centre Assist Inc.
www.telecentreassist.com