MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY

(TWO FACTOR THEORY)

Proponent: Frederick Herzberg
He is a behavioral scientist who explored the factors that make employees feel satisfied
or dissatisfied.
He 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.

DISCUSSION:
His 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 causing job dissatisfaction. Herzberg
reasoned that because the factors causing satisfaction are different from those causing
dissatisfaction, the two feelings cannot simply be treated as opposites of one another. The
opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but rather, no satisfaction. Similarly, the opposite
of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction.
To know the difference, 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.
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.
EXAMPLE: . If you have a hostile work environment, giving someone a promotion will not
make him or her satisfied. If you create a healthy work environment but do not provide members of
your team with any of the satisfaction factors, the work they're doing will still not be satisfying.


FACTORS OF MOTIVATION HYGIENE FACTORS
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.
MOTIVATORS HYGIENE FACTORS
1. Achievement
This includes the personal satisfaction of
completing a job, solving problems, and seeing
the results of ones efforts.
1. Company Policies & Administration
-The feelings about the adequacy or inadequacy
of company organization and management. This
includes poor communications, lack of delegated
authority, policies, procedures, and rules.

2. Recognition
-This is the recognition by others for a job well
done or personal accomplishment.
2. Supervision
-The competency or technical ability of the
super- visor. This includes the supervisors
willingness
to teach or delegate authority, fairness, and job
knowledge.
3. Work Itself
-The actual content of the job and its positive or
negative effect upon the employee whether the
job is characterized as interesting or boring,
varied or
routine, creative or stultifying, excessively easy or
excessively difficult, challenging or non-
demanding.
3. Job Security
-The employees job tenure and/or the
companys stability or instability objective signs
of the presence or absence of job security, not
the feelings of security.

4. Responsibility
-This includes both the responsibility and
authority in relation to the job. Responsibility
refers to the employees control over his or her
own job or being given the responsibility for the
work of others. Gaps between responsibility and
authority are considered under the company
policies and administration factor.
4. Working Conditions
-Factors that involve the physical environment
of the job: amount of work, facilities for
performing work, light, tools, temperature,
space, ventilation, and general appearance of
the work place.

5. Advancement
-The actual change in upward status in the
company. Increased opportunity changes with
no increase in status are considered under
responsibility.
5. Salary
- This includes all forms of compensation and
focuses on wage or salary increases or unfulfilled
expectation of increases.
6. Growth
-This includes actual learning of new skills, with
greater possibility of advancement within the
current occupational specialty as well as
personal growth.
6. Interpersonal Relations
-The relationships between the worker and his
or her superiors, subordinates, and peers. This
includes both job related interactions and social
interactions within the work environment.




APPLICATION OF HERZBERGS THEORY:
To apply Herzberg's theory, you need to adopt a two stage process to motivate
people. Firstly, you need eliminate the dissatisfactions they're experiencing and, secondly,
you need to help them find satisfaction.
Step One: Eliminate Job Dissatisfaction
Herzberg called the causes of dissatisfaction "hygiene factors". To get rid of them, you need to:
Fix poor and obstructive company
policies.
Provide effective, supportive and non-
intrusive supervision.
Create and support a culture of
respect and dignity for all team
members.
Ensure that wages are competitive.
Build job status by providing
meaningful work for all positions.
Provide job security.
All of these actions help you eliminate job dissatisfaction in your organization. And there's no
point trying to motivate people until these issues are out of the way! You can't stop there,
though. Remember, just because someone is not dissatisfied, it doesn't mean he or she is
satisfied either! Now you have to turn your attention to building job satisfaction.
Step Two: Create Conditions for Job Satisfaction
To create satisfaction, Herzberg says you need to address the motivating factors associated
with work. He called this "job enrichment". His premise was that every job should be examined
to determine how it could be made better and more satisfying to the person doing the work.
Things to consider include:
Providing opportunities for
achievement.
Recognizing workers' contributions.
Creating work that is rewarding and
that matches the skills and abilities of
the worker.
Giving as much responsibility to each
team member as possible.
Providing opportunities to advance in
the company through internal
promotions.
Offering training and development
opportunities, so that people can
pursue the positions they want within
the company.