Stage 1 This is known as the coercive stage. The only motivator (if we can call it that) is the fear of dismissal. During the early days of the Industrial Revolution the social and economic conditions made this workable. However, whenever the economy dips and unemployment increases this stage resurrects itself, indeed it was quite common in the early 1980’s. This stage really epitomises drivership rather than leadership. [geoads2]
Stage 2
Known as the mechanistic stage, the emphasis here is the working environment. During the First World War, improving working conditions in munitions factories had the effect of improving productivity. It was felt generally that concentrating on establishing ‘ideal’ workloads, work periods and environmental conditions would gain optimum performance. Even today organisations attempt to ‘lead’ using these methods.Stage 3
Psychological leadership. The ‘Hawthorne Experiments’ undertaken by Elton Mayo between 1928 and 1931 in the General Electric Company at their Hawthorne Plant, acted as a catalyst for this view of leadership and its effect on motivation. The objective of these experiments was to measure productivity improvements, which it was anticipated would result from the improvement of working conditions (Stage 2). However, when these changes were made, productivity did improve but when conditions were returned to their original state output continued to increase. Mayo concluded that productivity had improved because:- The workforce understood not only what they were doing by why. They valued the result of this work and this gave them a sense of personal worth.
- They had formed an effective and cohesive team.
- They were being consulted about meaningful aspects of the work, i.e. they were being led effectively.
Action Centred Leadership: John Adair
- Task Functions Defining the task
- Making a plan
- Allocating work and resources
- Controlling quality and tempo of Checking performance against the plan
- Adjusting the plan
- Group Functions Setting standards
- Maintaining discipline
- Building team spirit
- Encouraging, motivating, giving a sense of purpose
- Appointing sub-leaders
- Ensuring communication within the group
- Training the group
- Individual Functions Attending to personal problems
- Praising individuals
- Giving status
- Recognising and using individual abilities
- Training the individual
XPeople Naturally |
YPeople Naturally |
|
1. Are lazy – prefer to do nothing | 1. Are active – set goals, enjoy striving | |
2. Expect direction – won’t think for themselves | 2. Are able to assess situations – be self directing | |
3. Are in need of close supervision, pushing and driving | 3. Are able to devise and improve their own work methods – need freedom, encouragement, assistance to do so | |
4. Are in need of specific instruction: · What to do · How to do it | 4. Are in need of being respected as capable of assuming responsibility | |
5. Are formed by heredity/upbringing. Adults are static | 5. Are constantly growing – never too late to learn | |
6. Overall, the main force keeping people productive in their work is fear of punishments, including demotion or being sacked | 6. Overall, the main force keeping people productive in their work is a desire to achieve their personal and social goals |