On Training for Creating a Personnel Evaluation System Where People Grow, Based on the Hawthorne Experiments
We have recently received a request for training on personnel evaluation systems from the Management, Health, and Labor Committee of a certain branch of the Hokkaido Association of Corporate Executives. In an era where securing human resources is difficult, redesigning the evaluation system not as a "mechanism for assessment," but as a communication tool for people to grow is directly linked to corporate growth.
In fact, some companies feel that "employees quit after we introduced a personnel evaluation system" and end up abandoning the system itself. However, what is important here is the point that personnel evaluation is not for ranking people. Its original purpose is to acknowledge what employees "are doing well," provide advice on what they "are not doing well" through dialogue, and lead to human resource development and retention.
As a basis for this way of thinking, this training will cover the Hawthorne Experiments (1924–1932). The series of studies conducted at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works is represented by four experiments: the illumination experiments, the relay assembly test room, the interview program, and the bank wiring observation room. What these studies showed was the fact that it is not the physical environment that determines productivity, but the psychological factor of employees feeling that they are "valued" and "paid attention to". This is the "Hawthorne effect."
This insight is extremely important in modern small and medium-sized enterprise management. This is because interest in people influences employee motivation and retention more than the quality of the system.
1. Make the evaluation system a "mechanism for communicating expectations and actions"
The interview program of the Hawthorne Experiments showed that employees' initiative increases just by feeling that "their opinions are being heard." An evaluation system is essentially a place to communicate:
the values the company cherishes
the actions expected
the direction in which you want them to grow
.
By positioning evaluation interviews as "time for management to convey expectations," employee actions become aligned, and the organization's direction becomes unified. What is important here is that it is "direction-setting" rather than "ranking".
2. Make recognition and feedback a daily routine
The core of the Hawthorne effect is the point that "people perform better when they feel they are being watched". A single word from management or a supervisor significantly affects employee motivation.
Recognizing small efforts
Praising the process
Carefully communicating areas for improvement
The accumulation of such daily feedback increases trust in the evaluation system and also leads to the prevention of turnover. In other words, an evaluation system only functions when paired with "daily engagement".
3. Create mechanisms to enhance team unity
The bank wiring observation room experiment showed that informal camaraderie and group norms influence productivity. In conjunction with the evaluation system,
sharing success stories at morning assemblies
Monthly reviews
Setting team goals
By doing things such as these, organizational unity increases and cooperative relationships are strengthened. An evaluation system functions not only for individual growth, but also as a mechanism to promote team growth.
Conclusion: An evaluation system is a 'communication tool for human resource development'
What the Hawthorne experiments demonstrated is the universal truth that management that values people is what increases productivity. By transforming the evaluation system from a tool for assessment into a tool for dialogue and growth, you can simultaneously achieve:
Improved employee initiative
Prevention of turnover
Strengthening of organizational unity
Increased productivity
.
In this training, we will also explain practical content to help the companies of everyone in the Tomakomai branch evolve into organizations where 'people grow' even more.