Campbell Gourlay, Senior Associate for Three60 Consult, shares how employers can shape behaviour before it gets managed, with his insights below.
At Three60 Consult, employers often ask us how workplace culture can be improved, how standards can be lifted, or how relationships can be repaired before issues become formal employment problems.
The answer is rarely found in a policy or a code of conduct alone. It is more often than not found to be based in the detail of what leaders notice, reinforce, or tolerate and then consistently follow up on.
The Hawthorne effect offers a useful example to describe how this works. In plain terms, it describes the idea that people may change their behaviour when they know they are being observed or paid attention to.
The concept is commonly linked to workplace studies at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in the 1920s and 1930s, where productivity appeared to change in response, not only to working conditions, but also to the attention workers received.
For employers, the point is not that people should be watched more closely. It is that attention itself is powerful. What an employer pays attention to becomes a signal. Over time, those signals influence behaviour, relationships and trust.
What is the Hawthorne effect, in workplace terms?
The Hawthorne effect is a psychological phenomenon where employees modify their behaviour because they know they are being observed, supported, or paid attention to by leadership.
In a workplace, that does not need to mean formal monitoring. It can be as simple as employees noticing that a manager regularly checks in, and asks about workload, follows up on concerns, thanks people for constructive conduct, or responds promptly to any instances of disrespectful behaviour.
The concept is useful because it reminds employers that workers respond not only to rules, incentives and consequences, but also to attention. Employees notice what leaders ask about, what they ignore, who gets recognised, what conduct is corrected, and whether stated values are actually applied.
Why should New Zealand employers care about it?
Because employers influence workplace behaviour every day, whether deliberately or not. If leaders consistently ask only about output, employees may learn that output matters more than method. If leaders avoid difficult conduct issues, employees may conclude that incivility or poor behaviour is tolerated. If leaders respond well to early concerns, employees may learn that raising issues is safe and worthwhile.
Is this just another way of saying “employees behave better when watched”?
The short answer is no. There is a significant difference between constructive attention and surveillance.
Surveillance may create compliance, but it can also create anxiety, resentment or performative behaviour. Constructive attention is different. It is visible leadership, consistent feedback, fair follow-up and genuine engagement.
People are influenced by what leaders consistently notice, name and respond to.
That influence can be positive or negative. If respectful communication is noticed and reinforced, it becomes more likely. If workload concerns are heard and acted on, trust is more likely to grow. If inappropriate conduct is ignored, employees may reasonably infer that the behaviour is acceptable or too hard to address.
How does this apply to workplace relationships?
Workplace relationships are shaped by repeated interactions. Most employees do not experience “culture” as a statement on the intranet or a poster on the wall. They experience it through day-to-day behaviours of how meetings are run, how managers respond under pressure, how conflict is handled, and whether their concerns are taken seriously.
The Hawthorne effect is helpful because it highlights the relational impact of attention. For example:
- A manager who regularly asks, “What is getting in the way of doing your job well?” may encourage early disclosure of workload or resourcing issues.
- A leader who thanks employees for raising concerns may increase confidence in speaking up.
- A supervisor who calmly addresses dismissive or disrespectful conduct in the work place may reset expectations without needing a formal process.
- An employer who follows up after a difficult conversation may demonstrate that the employment relationship remains valued.
These are small acts, but they are not soft. They are management signals. Over time, they can influence whether employees withdraw, escalate, collaborate or trust the process.
What does this mean for psychosocial risk in the workplace?
WorkSafe’s guidance on managing psychosocial risks in New Zealand states that:
1. the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 defines “health” as physical and mental health
2. psychosocial risks can harm workers’ physical and mental health, and that businesses must manage those risks.
3. businesses must consult with workers when making decisions about how to manage health and safety risks related to their work.
The practical link is clear. Employers cannot manage psychosocial risk well if they do not pay attention to how work is actually being experienced. Workload, role clarity, support, interpersonal conduct, instances of customer aggression, poor communication and organisational change may all affect how people experience work.
The Hawthorne effect reminds employers that asking about these matters can itself change behaviour. If employees see that leaders are interested in workload pressure, psychological safety and respectful conduct, those matters become part of the organisation’s real and tangible operating rhythm. Conversely, if leaders say wellbeing matters but only measure speed, sales or output metrics, employees may experience the true priority differently and respond accordingly.
Workplace culture: What should employers avoid?
Employers should be cautious about approaches that create the appearance of attention without real substance. Some common risks include:
- conducting engagement surveys but not reporting back;
- encouraging staff to speak up but reacting defensively when they do;
- monitoring behaviour without explaining the purpose;
- focusing on individual resilience while ignoring work design;
- treating relationship issues as personality conflicts without examining leadership, workload or systems;
- using informal observation as a substitute for fair process where formal allegations are raised.
The final point is important. The Hawthorne effect may help employers improve behaviour and relationships, but it does not replace procedural fairness. Where there are allegations of misconduct, bullying, harassment, poor performance or breach of policy, employers still need a fair and reasonable process.
Humans have a built in bullshit detector evolved over millions of years and will sniff out insincerity where the actions do not match the words spoken or the shiny bold statements written on the wall…
Have a look around you ,what is your work place like? What can you change or influence?
