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01 Benter, Alvin

03 Bundal, Quincy Jones


29 Fangayen, Mayla Grace
35 Lipit, Rexie Anne
38 Manuel, Hazel Mei

HERZBERGS TWO-FACTOR THEORY

To better understand employee attitudes and motivation, Frederick Herzberg


performed studies to determine which factors in an employee's work environment
caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction. He published his findings in the 1959 book
The Motivation to Work. The studies included interviews in which employees where
asked what pleased and displeased them about their work. Herzberg found that the
factors causing job satisfaction (and presumably motivation) were different from
those that cause job dissatisfaction. He developed the motivation-hygiene theory to
explain these results. He called the satisfiers motivators and the dissatisfiers
hygiene factors, using the term "hygiene" in the sense that they are considered
maintenance factors that are necessary to avoid dissatisfaction but that by
themselves do not provide satisfaction.

Hygiene factors

Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of motivation
at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these
factors are absent / if these factors are non-existant at workplace, then they lead to
dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which when
adequate/reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and do not make them
dissatisfied. These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called
as dissatisfiers or maintenance factors as they are required to avoid
dissatisfaction.

Motivational factors

According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The


motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to work.
These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These factors are
called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job. Employees find
these factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized the psychological
needs that were perceived as an additional benefit.

Factors causing dissatisfaction and satisfaction

The following table presents the top six factors causing dissatisfaction and the top
six factors causing satisfaction, listed in the order of higher to lower importance.

Factors Affecting Job Attitudes


Leading to Leading to Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction
Company policy Achievement
Supervision Recognition
Relationship w/Boss Work itself
Work conditions Responsibility
Salary Advancement
Relationship w/Peers Growth

From the above table of results, one observes that the factors that determine
whether there is dissatisfaction or no dissatisfaction are not part of the work itself,
but rather, are external factors. Herzberg often referred to these hygiene factors as
"KITA" factors, where KITA is an acronym for Kick In The A..., the process of
providing incentives or a threat of punishment to cause someone to do something.
Herzberg argues that these provide only short-run success because the motivator
factors that determine whether there is satisfaction or no satisfaction are intrinsic to
the job itself, and do not result from carrot and stick incentives.

Satisfaction vs. Dissatisfaction

According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while
there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the
opposite of Satisfaction is No satisfaction and the opposite of Dissatisfaction is
No Dissatisfaction.

FIGURE: Herzbergs view of satisfaction and dissatisfaction

While at first glance this distinction between the two opposites may sound like a
play on words, Herzberg argued that there are two distinct human needs portrayed.
First, there are physiological needs that can be fulfilled by money, for example, to
purchase food and shelter. Second, there is the psychological need to achieve and
grow, and this need is fulfilled by activities that cause one to grow.

Implications for Management


If the motivation-hygiene theory holds, management not only must provide hygiene
factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction, but also must provide factors intrinsic to
the work itself in order for employees to be satisfied with their jobs.

Herzberg argued that job enrichment is required for intrinsic motivation, and that it
is a continuous management process. According to Herzberg:

The job should have sufficient challenge to utilize the full ability of the employee.
Employees who demonstrate increasing levels of ability should be given increasing
levels of responsibility.
If a job cannot be designed to use an employee's full abilities, then the firm should
consider automating the task or replacing the employee with one who has a lower
level of skill. If a person cannot be fully utilized, then there will be a motivation
problem.

Critics of Herzberg's theory argue that the two-factor result is observed because it is
natural for people to take credit for satisfaction and to blame dissatisfaction on
external factors. Furthermore, job satisfaction does not necessarily imply a high
level of motivation or productivity. Herzberg's theory has been broadly read and
despite its weaknesses its enduring value is that it recognizes that true motivation
comes from within a person and not from KITA factors.

Combining the hygiene and motivation factors results in four scenarios:

High Hygiene + High Motivation: The ideal situation where employees are
highly motivated and have few complaints.
High Hygiene + Low Motivation: Employees have few complaints but are not
highly motivated. The job is perceives as a paycheck.
Low Hygiene + High Motivation: Employees are motivated but have a lot of
complaints. A situation where the job is exciting and challenging but salaries and
work conditions are not up to par.
Low Hygiene + Low Motivation: The worst situation. Unmotivated employees
with lots of complaints.

Motivating employees

Herzberg believed that businesses should motivate employees by adopting a


democratic approach to management and by improving the nature and content of
the actual job through certain methods. Some of the methods managers could use
to achieve this are:

Job enlargement workers being given a greater variety of tasks to perform (not
necessarily more challenging) which should make the work more interesting.

Job enrichment - involves workers being given a wider range of more complex and
challenging tasks surrounding a complete unit of work. This should give a greater
sense of achievement.
Empowerment means delegating more power to employees to make their own
decisions over areas of their working life.

References:

http://www.abahe.co.uk/Free-En-Resources/Theories-of-Management/Herzberg-
Motivation-Hygiene-Theory.pdf

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/herzbergs-theory-motivation.htm

https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/motivation-herzberg-two-factor-theory

http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_herzberg_two_factor_theory.html

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