McGregor’s theory X and theory Y

Douglas M. McGregor changed the conception of the employee held by company managers.

Although when we think of psychology we usually imagine the study of the psyche and human behavior in a clinical context, the truth is that this discipline works with multiple other fields; it is not limited only to a health aspect.

The mind is an object of study that is active in every moment, situation and context. One of the fields in which multiple investigations have also been carried out in psychology is work psychology, which is dealt with by Work and Organizational Psychology.. In this field, elements such as leadership, authority, rule following and employee productivity have been analyzed.

There are many theories that have emerged throughout history and many authors who have worked in this area, among them Douglas Murray McGregor, who developed two opposing theories that explain both the traditional way of exercising leadership and the more humanistic one advocated by the author: These are McGregor's theory X and theory Y.. Let's see what they consist of.

McGregor's X and Y theories

Since the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the first factories, there was a need to manage the way workers performed their jobs. It is well known how much labor exploitation took place at the time and has continued throughout the centuries, with exhaustive control of what each employee did and providing few freedoms, as well as being limited to the performance of one or more specific tasks indicated by management (directing both what should be done and how).

Also known are numerous revolts carried out to improve workers' conditions, which would eventually lead to the creation of unions. The performance and productivity of employees was always something to be taken into account by managers. different strategies were employed, the most common being the use of control, sanctions and coercion to encourage productivity, and money as a reward. But except for those whose basic needs were not met, productivity did not improve much.

The emergence of psychology as a science made it possible to analyze this type of situation and different theories were developed. Although the first theories considered the need to exercise greater control and considered the worker to be mainly a slacker, later other currents contrary to this belief emerged.

One of these authors, in this case from the 20th century, was Douglas McGregor. This author based himself on Maslow's theory of motivation and his hierarchy of human needs to propose that the lack of motivation is the result of a lack of motivation. to propose that the lack of motivation and work productivity is due to the fact that once the basic needs have been satisfied, the stimuli necessary to satisfy them cease to be motivating. New needs are generated, such as those of esteem and self-fulfillment, which most companies of the time are not interested in satisfying. Therefore, he proposes a new mode of business operation in the face of the limitations of the traditional one: theory Y, which he contrasts with the traditional model or theory X, the two models being mutually exclusive.

Theory X

The so-called theory X is an elaboration of McGregor from which he tries to explain the way in which he tries to explain the way of understanding the company and the worker that had been the majority until the moment..

This traditional vision considers the worker as a passive entity who must be forced to work, a lazy being who tends to work as little as possible and whose only motivation is to obtain money. They are seen as uninformed, incapable of managing change and conflict, and unambitious. Without exhaustive control they would not carry out their work.

Under this consideration, management must show leadership capacity and exercise continuous control over employees in order to avoid their passivity. The behavior of the workers will be controlled and all responsibilities will be assumed, providing them with limited tasks.

Leadership is thus exercised in an authoritarian manner and by pointing out what everyone must do and how to do it.. Rules are strict and strong sanctions, coercion and punitive measures are established to keep employees working. Money and remuneration are used as a basic element of motivation.

Theory Y

In theory X McGregor makes explicit the traditional way of understanding work that has existed since the time of the Industrial Revolution. However, he believes that it was necessary to start from a different theory that had a different view of the worker and his role in the company. The result was theory Y.

This theory indicates that management should be responsible for organizing the firm and its resources in order to meet its objectives, but that employees are not a passive but an active element unless they are pushed into it.. The value and importance of motivation and challenge is indicated, a value that is often not taken advantage of and prevents workers from developing to their full potential. Nor is it noted that each individual has his or her own objectives that often have not been reflected with those of the company.

In this sense, it is the management of the company that must organize itself in such a way that the work fosters this development and allows the employee not only to meet objectives to which he/she does not feel bound, but also to achieve his/her own goals in the process of reaching the company's goals. It is also appreciated that commitment is greater when there is recognition of their achievements, and that applying the employee's skills to the company's goals is the best way to achieve them.It is also believed that the application of workers' skills can generate solutions to unforeseen organizational problems or those for which management does not have a valid solution.

This theory, which the author defended against the traditional or X theory, is based fundamentally on the idea of encouraging self-government and favoring the worker's self-control and autonomy, instead of seeing him as just another cog in the wheel. It is proposed to enrich the work by making the worker responsible for different tasks and encourage them to be active and participative, able to make their own decisions and feel committed to their work. Training, providing information, negotiating objectives and responsibilities and generating a climate of trust are fundamental for the good functioning of the company.

It is therefore a question of exercising leadership that allows participation and trust, in which the employee's work is appreciated, in which work and personal responsibility are expanded and enriched (for example through the delegation of responsibilities) and that focuses on the achievement of objectives rather than on authority and personal power. and personal power.

Difficulties in the implementation of theory Y

Although the author himself proposes theory Y as a desirable and achievable goal, he recognizes the existence of obstacles and the difficulty of generating change at a time when the operation of most companies was governed by classical theory. For example, there is the fact that managers would have to change their way of thinking and reorganize both their organizational structure and their operations, which they will tend to do.The fact that they are going to tend to resist.

In addition, it also indicates that it may be difficult for the employee to make this change, because in many cases they have become accustomed to being told and demanded a specific way of proceeding and being controlled, as well as having their needs satisfied only outside the workplace. The potential of workers has been limited by management's expectation that they are passive entities. who must be forced to work, losing to a great extent the motivation to work.

What does today's Organizational Psychology say?

With the passage of time, the work paradigm has been changing and the worker is no longer seen as a merely passive element in many areas. in a large number of areas. Today we can see how a great majority of companies try to promote autonomy, and that proactivity has become one of the most demanded values in the workplace.

However, later authors have pointed out that the Y model does not always have good results: the most optimal type of operation will depend on the type of task to be performed.. Other models have been proposed that attempt to integrate aspects of the traditional view (X) and the humanistic view (Y), in the so-called balance theories.

Bibliographical references:

• McGregor, D.M. (1960). The Human Side of Enterprise. In Yarhood, D.L. (1986). Public Administration, Politics and People: Selected Readings for Managers, Employees and Citizens, New York: Longman Publishing Group; 134-144.
• Lussier, R. N. & Achua, C. F. (2008). Liderazgo . México: Cengage Learning.