07.Herzberg's Two Factor Theory for Employee Motivation

 

Introduction

Motivation is a general term that refers to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces that compel people to choose certain options over others (Maicibi, 2003). Motivation involves internal and external forces that influence a person’s choice of action. In 1959, Herzberg conducted a study on the job attitudes for 203 accountants and engineers. The participants were asked to recall when they had felt positive or negative at work and the reasons why. The findings indicated that the job characteristics were related to what an individual does and to the nature of the work that a person performs. Motivation factors did appear to have the capacity to increase the sense of achievement, competency, personal growth, self-realization and status. However, the absence of such gratifying job characteristics does not appear to lead to de-motivation or dissatisfaction. Instead, dissatisfaction results from unfavorable assessments of such job related factors as company policies, interpersonal relations on the job, salary, supervision, technical problems, and the overall working conditions. Unlike the traditional view of dissatisfaction and satisfaction, they are not in a continuum. They are two continua and are independent from each other. 

Herzberg (1966) identified motivators as factors that motivate employees to work. These motivators result in job satisfaction. Motivation factors are based on an individual's need for personal growth. When they exist, motivation factors can help to actively create job satisfaction. If they are effective, they can motivate an individual to achieve an above average effort, or performance. Motivation factors include; challenging/stimulating work, gaining recognition, opportunity for advancement, responsibility, status, a sense of personal achievement, and personal growth in the job. 

Motivation factors help to increase the job satisfaction of an employee. This increases their efficiency and ultimately leads to an increase in organizational effectiveness. These have been identified as rewards, or incentives that sharpen the drive to satisfy the wants of an employee (Zimmerman, 1988). 

Hygiene factors were identified as factors that prevented job dissatisfaction. The fulfillment of hygiene factors did not make an employee happy or satisfied; it just removed the unhappiness from the work environment. So, if hygiene factors are not satisfied an employee’s efficiency will usually decrease. Hygiene factors are based on the need for an organization to avoid unpleasantness within the working environment. If these factors are considered inadequate by an employee, it causes dissatisfaction. Some typical hygiene factors include: company policy and administration, feelings of job security, financial remuneration (salary/wages), quality of supervision, and the quality of interpersonal relations and working conditions. The concept was developed from Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman’s study as displayed in Figure 1.

 
                                                          Source: Chu,H.C. 2015.

01.Motivation Factors

The word ‘motivation’ comes from the Latin word mover or ‘to move’. The definition of motivation is ''how to provide something to a person to drive him/her to do something’ (Ruthankoon & Ogunlana, 2003). In the two-factor theory, motivation is the variable most strongly correlated with job satisfaction and Herzberg and his colleagues argued that to increase employees’ job satisfaction the motivation factors must be improved (see Table 2). According to Herzberg’s theory, motivation factors, or motivators, are intrinsic to the job and lead to positive

Attitudes towards the job because they satisfy the ‘need for growth or self-actualization’ (Herzberg, 1966). Motivation factors are related to a person’s job satisfaction and include advancement, the work itself, possibility of growth, responsibility, recognition and achievement (Herzberg, 1966).

02.Hygiene Factors

The term hygiene comes from the Latin word ‘hygiena’. According to Herzberg and colleagues, this term is used in reference to ‘medical hygiene...[which] operates to remove health hazards from the environment’ (Herzberg, 1966). Disease from health hazards or hygiene is preventable; similarly, employee dissatisfaction from hygiene issues at work is preventable. Hygiene factors are the variables correlated with reducing the level of job dissatisfaction, as opposed to motivation factors, which directly influence an employee’s motivation and satisfaction. Hygiene factors are related to the conditions that surround the ‘doing’ of the job or the workplace. Herzberg states that the hygiene factors are extrinsic to the job, and if present, lead to preventing

Job dissatisfaction because hygiene factors react to the environment and workplace for ‘the need to avoid unpleasantness’ (Herzberg, 1966). Hygiene factors operate to decrease the job dissatisfaction of the employees (see Table 2). Hygiene factors are related to the context of the work itself, and include interpersonal relations, salary, company policies and administration, relationship with supervisors and working conditions (Herzberg, 1966). The following is a brief summary of the hygiene factors (Herzberg, 1966; Adair, 2006).

 

 Reference 

i. Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. and Maude, P., 2017. Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life Science Journal, 14(5), pp.12-16.

ii. Adair, John. (2006). Part 2. Maslow and Herzberg, Chapter 6. Herzberg’s motivationhygiene theory. Leadership and motivation. London and Philadelphia: Kogan Page.

iii. Gardner, G., 1977. Is there a valid test of Herzberg's two‐factor theory?. Journal of occupational Psychology, 50(3), pp.197-204.

iv. Herzberg, F. (2003). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 81(1), 86.

v.Ruthankoon, R. and Ogunlana, S.O., 2003. Testing Herzberg’s two‐factor theory in the Thai construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management.

vi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-qbGAvR4EU&t=141s