7.4 Organisational Work Conditions

2026 📋 Syllabus Objectives

By the end of these notes, you should be able to:

  1. Physical work conditions — Explain the Hawthorne effect and describe open plan offices, including their advantages and disadvantages.
  2. Temporal conditions — Describe shiftwork, explain the different rotation types, and explain flexitime.
  3. Health and safety — Explain how accidents and human error occur at work, describe how token economy systems are used to improve safety, and describe how accidents are monitored (including Swat, 1997).

📖 Section 1: Physical Work Conditions

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Physical work conditions refer to the physical environment in which people do their jobs — things like the layout of the office, the lighting, and how the space is arranged. Research shows these conditions can have a powerful effect on how people behave and perform at work.

1.1 The Hawthorne Effect

What is it?

The Hawthorne effect is the finding that people change their behaviour simply because they know they are being watched or observed. It does not matter whether any real improvement has been made to their working conditions — the act of paying attention to workers is enough to improve their performance.

Where does the name come from?

The name comes from a series of studies carried out at a factory called the Hawthorne Works in the USA. Researchers made various changes to working conditions (such as changing lighting levels or giving workers rest breaks) and measured how productivity changed. No matter what change was made — even when conditions got worse — productivity kept going up.

The key conclusion was that the workers were performing better because they felt noticed and valued — not because of the physical changes themselves.

Why does it happen?

  • Workers feel special and important when someone is paying attention to them.
  • Being observed may motivate people to try harder so they look good.
  • Workers may believe the organisation cares about them, which boosts morale (how positive and motivated they feel).

Why does this matter in psychology?

The Hawthorne effect is an important concept because it shows that observation itself can change behaviour. This is also relevant in research — if people know they are being studied, they might not act naturally, which can make the results of a study less accurate.

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