Theory X and Theory Y

X and Y on first glace appear just some mathematical variables but the X and Y in this blog relates to theory of human motivation created and developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan School of Management in the 1960s that have been used in human resource management, organizational behavior  organizational communication and organizational development.

X and Y are names given to atitudes of managers rather than worker behavior. Variables are chosen so as to prevent perceptions and focusing on task at hand. Theory X managers are managers with a negative attitude who lack faith in workers, think them as lazy with an incentive for only money. Theory Y managers on the other hand are managers with a positive attitude who have faith in workers, think them as hardworking, creative and self motivated.

For an video explanation to theory X and theory Y please visit the link as below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qm_3saEo7o

Now in any organization we always find a set of lazy and another set of really competitive and hardworking workers. At the same time we also find both theory X and theory Y type of managers. Now this gives us four particular situations worth giving a thought to and understanding its implication. Let me put forward these situations in a ordered way:

1. Combination of Theory X managers with Lazy Workers: This is a situation in which worker is not interested in doing a job and is lazy. Also the manager is not interested in understanding the problem of the worker and hence the only way to get work done is by controlling and monitoring each task of the worker. This is a field raw for distrust and leads to highly tensed work environment for workers which leads to low satisfaction among most employees. Also the productivity of the team is heavily impacted and the effort needed to get any task done is enormous.

2. Combination of Theory X managers with Self Motivated, Good Workers: This is a situation in which worker is very competitive and assumes full responsibility of the various tasks he is working on. But the manager is still negative in his perception and considers workers as lazy and never appreciates their efforts. This leads to an uncooperative team in which worker looses his motivation with time and is dangerous since attaining of goals in team are to be well directed and this situation creates a set of workers ready to ignore manager since the negative atitude of manager forces multiple perceptions in workers about organizational goals.

3. Combination of Theory Y managers with Lazy workers: Worker in such case is again not interested in performing his job. But the manager has a positive atitude and believes in potential of worker. He understands that 'Business is all about people, You trust them and they will trust you back'. This combination is a raw platform in which manager tries to understand workers problem and provide solution accordingly. This may lead to two cases one in which worker improves his performance watching the trust of the manager which satisfies the basic need of self recognition in him. Also the habitual lazy worker may use this as a point of advantage for avoiding work. This overall is the best platform to test the managers mettle. He through his positive attitude and close coordination can create a highly result oriented team which from an organisations point of view is a great thing.

4. Combination of Theory Y managers with Self motivated, Good Workers: This is an ideal situation which one rarely finds in a organization. In such kind of atmosphere workers are ready to take the full responsibility of their work, are creative and have high job satisfaction levels. But the manager has little to prove in terms of improving productivity and culture.

I have come in contact with different managers while working in a manufacturing unit and have seen the implementation and effect of these combinations. For eg I had one very senior manager who used a combination of these methodologies. For all lazy workers can not be improved by positive attitude and require control at managerial level where each of the task given to them is closely observed and looked after with distrust since many critical equipments and processes are at stake. Since a manufacturing system is run in shifts in some combinations workers are highly motivated and such teams are given high levels of freedom but still sometimes a particular good worker is sidelined strategically for remaining in control over the plant activities. Now this is a particular situation where the manager uses combination 2 to keep control but the important thing to realize is that such control should not prolong for long since it will give rise to dangerous situation of attrition in the process and finding replacement for manufacturing equipments is not an easy task.

I personally believe that I fall in the category of theory Y managers since during my work experience I have managed many workers which fall in both the category. I always tried to gain an understanding of the reasons for   the lack of performance of a worker and helped create an atmosphere of trust by discussing the bigger picture of plant process and technicalities with them. Sometimes I would appreciate even the minor work done by lazy worker just to motivate them and let them be aware of my rising expectation and trust for them. I actually have got great result from the process and have been able to manage and develop seriously damaged team to successful result oriented team.

I as a student of PGDIM and my experience in a manufacturing unit can clearly relate to the application  of this theory in real practice, just that I was unaware of the technicalities of calling this as Theory X and Theory Y. I am sure people with experience can clearly relate with the same, and for others not presently working or working without access to management education I hope this blog serves as the platform to convey meaningful information which can be utilized by you in your fields.

Do write if you find application of this theory relevant and please don't forget to tell me the results of your experimentation within these combination. Any suggestions on new combination is welcome as it will improve my domain knowledge too. Do give your valuable inputs on suggesting improvements to the blog.