Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Mausner
and Snyderman, published
the two-factor model of work motivation and developed the motivation-hygiene
theory, which was influenced by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Jones, 2011: Alshmemri,
2017). Herzberg created a two-dimensional paradigm of factors influencing
people’s attitudes towards work. Initially Herzberg and his colleagues developed
a hypothesis that satisfaction and dissatisfaction with a job were affected by
two different sets of factors and thus satisfaction and dissatisfaction could
not be reliably measured on the same continuum (Stello, 2011). Below figure 1-0
shows how Herzberg’s two factor theory works.
Figure
1.0 : Herzberg’s two factor theory
(Source: Weiner, 2012)
Two-Factor
Theory Frederick Herzberg’s motivation theory presumes that one group of
influences, motivators, accounts for increases in individual motivation because
of enrichment and other positive work characteristics (Mathis et al,2017). Motivating
factors or ‘satisfiers’ relate to the job content and consist of the need for
achievement, the interest of the work, responsibility and opportunities for
advancement. These needs are the intrinsic motivators. He added this up in the
phrase ‘motivation by the work itself’ (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Motivational
Factors
- Responsibility
- Recognition
- Growth
- Promotional Opportunities
- Self- Development
On the other hand, if the basic expectations are not sufficiently addressed, hygiene factors can cause employees to become unsatisfied with the job (Mathis et al,2017). Hygiene factors relate to the job setting, including such things as pay and working conditions.
Hygiene Factors
- Company Policy
- Salary
- Job Security
- Status
- Working Conditions
- Relationship with peers
- Relationship with Supervisor
Psychologist Frederick Herzberg argued that the best way to motivate workers is through what he called job enrichment. Job enrichment means redesigning jobs in a way that increases the opportunities for the worker to experience feelings of responsibility, achievement, growth, and recognition and therefore more motivation (Dessler, 2017). It does this by empowering/delegating the worker for example, by giving the worker the skills and authority to inspect the work, instead of having supervisors do that. Herzberg said empowered employees would do their jobs efficiently because they wanted to, and quality and productivity would increase. That philosophy, in one form or another, is the theoretical basis for the team-based self-managing jobs in many companies around the world today (Dessler, 2017).
I
work at a leading stock broking Company and the investment advisors who handle
the company’s clients are currently satisfied with their job due to recognition
from the higher level and promotion opportunities. But on the other hand, at
the same time they can become dissatisfied with the job due to under pay of
salary, strict company policy and low level of relationship with subordinates.
To overcome such a situation management should be able to give proper
motivation solutions to the employees.
Herzberg
famously remarked that if you want people to do a good job then give them a
good job to do (quoted by Dowling, 1971).
References
Ø Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. and Maude, P. (2017) School of Health Sciences (Nursing and Midwifery), RMIT University, Melbourne Australia. Life Science Journal 14 (5) Available : https://www.lifesciencesite.com/lsj/life140517/03_32120lsj140517_12_16.pdf [Accessed on 11th November 2022]
Ø Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S (2014) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 13th Edn. Philadelphia.
Ø Charles,
L.A. (2019) Factors Influencing Employees' motivation on performance a case
study of Banks in yei muncipility, South Sudan. Mount Meru University,
Arusha, Tanzania.
Ø Dessler,
G (2017) Human Resource Management. 15th Edn. USA: Pearson Education Limited.
Ø Jones, T. L. (2011). Effects of motivating
and hygiene factors on job satisfaction among school nurses. PhD thesis, Walden
University, Minneapolis, MN.
Ø Koncar, P., Santos, T., Strohmaier, M. and Helic, D. (2022) On the application of the Two-Factor Theory to online employer reviews. Journal of Data, Information and Management. 4, pp 1–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42488-021-00061-3
Ø Mathis,
R.L., Jackson, J.H., Valentine, S.R. and Meglich, P.A. (2017) Human Resource
Management. 15th Edn. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Ø Stello, C. M. (2011). Herzberg’s two-factor theory of job satisfaction: An integrative literature review. Journal of Education and Human Development, 1-32.
Great!! Totally agreed with the content above Sarasi. As a different perspective, the implication for organizations using this theory is that satisfying employees' extrinsic or hygiene factors will only keep them from actively becoming dissatisfied but won't motivate them to put forth more effort toward better performance; instead, organizations should concentrate on providing intrinsic or motivational factors to motivate employees (Robbins, 2009).
ReplyDeleteThanks Romeda, Intrinsic motivation makes employees work by internal rewards and Extrinsic motivation drives employees to perform well to get the rewards or avoid punishment. Extrinsic motivation is more for short term relief than long-term. Every organization has its own unique method of motivating company employees and they can adopt most suitable methods to motivate their employees (Singh, 2016).
DeleteThanks Romeda, Intrinsic motivation makes employees work by internal rewards and Extrinsic motivation drives employees to perform well to get the rewards or avoid punishment. Extrinsic motivation is more for short term relief than long-term. Every organization has its own unique method of motivating company employees and they can adopt most suitable methods to motivate their employees (Singh, 2016).
ReplyDeleteThanks romeda! Intrinsic motivation makes employees work by internal rewards and Extrinsic motivation drives employees to perform well to get the rewards or avoid punishment. Extrinsic motivation is more for short term relief than long-term. Every organization has its own unique method of motivating company employees and they can adopt most suitable methods to motivate their employees (Singh, 2016).
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the above content Sarasi, according to the two-factor theory, a business can change either one of two components to affect employee motivation. These two factors are Hygiene factors and Motivational factors. Hygiene factors will not motivated employees and work effectively but if these factors aren’t given by an organization the workforce will be unhappy and demotivated and Motivational factors would lead to positive satisfaction and are inherent to work. (Nickerson, 2021)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tharaka for your valuable comment, Hygiene issues, according to Herzberg, cannot motivate employees but can minimize dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors included salary, working conditions, company policies and a few more. The absence or mishandling of the situation can only affect the degree of dissatisfaction (Alrawahi, et al., 2020).
DeleteAgreed & furthermore Herzberg's (1957, 1966) two-factor model of motivation was based on an investigation into the sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among accountants and engineers who were asked what made them feel exceptionally good or exceptionally bad about their jobs. According to Herzberg, this study discovered two factors that influenced feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Armstrong, 2014)
ReplyDeleteNicely Explained Sarasi , The hygiene factors are not direct motivators but are necessary to prevent dissatisfaction and at the same time serve as a starting point for motivation. However, improvements in these conditions do not create motivation, (Hulling 2003).
ReplyDelete