Hawthorne Framework

The Hawthorne effect refers to a tendency in some individuals to alter their behaviour in response to their awareness of being observed. This phenomenon implies that when people become aware that they are subjects in an experiment, the attention they receive from the experimenters may cause them to change their conduct.

When to use this framework

The Hawthorne effect can be used across many industries. As long as there are people, you can set parameters and improve certain conditions which trigger different behaviour.

Who is this framework for?

It’s important to appreciate ideas and many start-up organisations have benefitted from this where younger employees were heard and their ideas appreciated. This framework should be for your employees.

Why do you need this framework?

People are mainly motivated not by economic factors, but by emotional factors, such as a feeling of being involved and receiving attention. It is important for employees to feel that their concerns are being heard.

How do you use this framework?

An example at your office:

1. You are researching the smoking rates among employees as part of a smoking cessation program. You collect your data by watching the employees during their work breaks. If employees are aware that you are observing them, this can affect your study's results.

There are can be a genuine outcome where for example, you may record higher or lower smoking rates than are genuinely representative of the?population under study.

You go through this daily at work, at home, and while using apps & internet. An example:

1. Browsing using the incognito mode that's partly because you care about your privacy but also because you know you'll be retargeted by ads related to the content you search. Why did you change your behaviour?
2. A study of hand-washing among medical staff found that when the staff knew they were being watched, compliance with hand-washing was 55% greater than when they were not being watched (Eckmanns 2006).

The Hawthorne effect applies across industries and temporarily provides insight into human behaviour.