Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory is a
popular but controversial theory of employee satisfaction. The theory was at
the center of a long debate that focused on conceptual and methodological
problems with the theory
The motivational-hygiene model states that
employee motivation is achieved when employees are faced with challenging but
enjoyable work where one can achieve, grow, and demonstrate responsibility and
advance in the organisation. That is, when the employees’ efforts are
recognized, it brings about job satisfaction and motivation
Hygiene
Factors
The hygiene factors are also referred to as
the maintenance factors and comprise of the physiological, safety and love
needs from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They are factors that are not directly
related to the job but the conditions that surround doing the job
Motivator
Factors
According to Herzberg, the motivator
factors pertain to the job content, they are intrinsic to the job itself and do
not result from “carrot and stick incentives”. They comprise the physiological
need for growth and recognition. The absence of these factors does not prove
highly dissatisfying but when present, they build strong levels of motivation
that result in good job performance. They are therefore called satisfiers or
motivators. These factors include; achievement, recognition, advancement, the
work itself, the possibility of personal growth and responsibility
Figure 1 - Dissatisfiers and Satisfiers on the Job.
Source:
As cited in
Figure 2 - The Relationship of Hygiene and Motivational Factors
Source:
As cited in
Figure 3 - Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Source:
Even though half a century is gone since Herzberg
theory was first proposed, organization leadership is urged to first identify
what satisfies or dissatisfies their workforce and initiate change programs to
nurturing their job satisfaction and elevating job dissatisfaction which may
motivate them for higher productivity and retention besides reducing their exit
turnover or its intentions
I work for a company in IT industry and it
can be observed that most of the employees have basic expectations from the job
such as a good salary, good working conditions, welfare. In the absence of such
benefits they either voice their disliking/dissatisfaction. However, it should
be noted that employees still tend to look out for better opportunities even
when these needs are being fulfilled. After having one to one coaching
discussions over the time, it would noticed that these basic needs fulfillment
alone is not enough for them to retain in the organization and for highest
engagement levels. It was found that they seek for new challenges, learning
opportunities, growth opportunities and appreciation for their contributions
which keeps them motivated.
As an organization it is worthwhile to
provide both hygiene factors and motivators to ensure that employees are not
dissatisfied and also motivated to retain in the organization.
References
Bassett-Jones, N. & Lloyd, G.
C., 2005. Does Herzberg’s motivation theory have staying power?. Journal of
Management Development, 24(10), pp. 929-943.
Dartey-Baah,
K. & Amoako, G. K., 2011. Application of Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor
theory in assessing and understanding employee motivation at work: a Ghanaian
Perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(9), pp.
1-8.
Gawe, J.
E., 1996. Herzber Herzberg's Theor s Theory of Motiv y of Motivation and
Maslow' ation and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Practical Assessment,
Research, and Evaluation, 5(5), pp. 1-3.
Malik, M.
E. & Naeem, B., 2013. Towards Understanding Controversy on Herzberg Theory
of Motivation. World Applied Sciences Journal, 24(8), pp. 1031-1036.
Ozguner, Z.
& Ozguner, M., 2014. A Managerial Point of View on the Relationship
between of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory. International
Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(7), pp. 207-215.
Sachau, D.
A., 2007. Resurrecting the MotivationHygiene Theory: Herzberg and the Positive
Psychology Movement. Human Resource Development Review, 6(4), pp.
377-393.
Well said Chamara.Kanfer(1990) stated, it is essential that employees are working in the same way organization wanted them to move so that the goals can be easily achieved if not the entire process of motivation will be a waste of energy.
ReplyDeleteYes Pernalla. An internally satisfied, delighted and motivated worker or employee is actually a productive employee in an organization which contributes in efficiency and effectiveness of organization which leads to maximization of profits (Matthew et al, 2009)
DeleteYes Chamara, Herzberg's two factor theory of motivation is useful to explore what motivational elements are associated with job satisfaction, as job satisfaction is an important condition for employee retention. Alrawahi et al (2020) states that “a productive environment can be generated by addressing the factors that influence employee job satisfaction and then designing interventions that can be implemented by managers to include and enhance those factors”.
ReplyDeleteYes Oshadee. Even though half a century is gone since Herzberg theory was first proposed, organization leadership is urged to first identify what satisfies or dissatisfies their workforce and initiate change programs to nurturing their job satisfaction and elevating job dissatisfaction which may motivate them for higher productivity and retention besides reducing their exit turnover or its intentions (Malik & Naeem, 2013).
DeleteVery true Chamara, this theory argued that meeting the lower-level needs (extrinsic or hygiene factors) of individuals would not motivate them to exert effort but would only prevent them from being dissatisfied. In order to motivate employees, higher-level needs (intrinsic or motivation factors) must be supplied (Yusoff, et al., 2013).
ReplyDeleteYes Sachith. Hygiene factors avoid dissatisfaction, but they do not lead to satisfaction. They are necessary only to avoid bad feeling at work, motivators are the actual factors that motivate employees at work (Hong & Waheed,2011).
DeleteIn addition to your point, according to Herzberg's two factory theory managers should first of all fix poor and obstructive company policies, provide effective, supportive and non-intrusive supervision, create and support the culture of respect and dignity for all team members, ensure that wages and salaries are competitive, provide job security and build job status by providing meaningful work for all positions, prior to motivating employees (Dartey-Baah, 2011).
ReplyDeleteReference
Dartey-Baah, K. (2011). Application of Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory in assessing and understanding employee motivation at work: a Ghanaian Perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 3 Issue: 9, https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/43836326/642-1588-1-SM.pdf?1458255837=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DApplication_of_Frederick_Herzbergs_Two_F.pdf&Expires=1621075378&Signature=I8xKWyNaju5GdIQhfdKyH-mOqA1XgKiVkWUpwRC-G7luDdtgR5sWBWdsDvfdmDp6X459JXzSQGs7sX2W~e0hP05HnkU1RnknJWVIRDKndC~A25wv30Rg8JNq-Od0EsXGwpJEtn15bNRZ72qxq9A0Hniup3EfKJS-4otS~WjXXyACKsK8eVHlAkfuuedT2y6C7~VSTQ1OtAE-lXCsu3rk8tz8Plh9OxWKMx8lpv2KK9jUj3VnK0LKGrNT1oVQWt0bdZFEldLoiF6AMFPA2xC-pG8Dl6Mivw02gwu1yAZVL8kFSiP1eCnYQxVZ2W11TpNZBVgkifkoQWTky8XMZoZHSQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA
Yes Sathaharan. The job context factors, on the other hand, are the extrinsic factors that someone as an employee does not have much control over; they relate more to the environment in which people work than to the nature of the work itself (Schermerhorn, 2003).
DeleteAgree with you Chamara. Theory explained that high level needs of recognition, work itself, advancement, responsibility and achievement makes employees satisfied with their job while the absence of lower level needs like working conditions, pay, interpersonal relations, job security and company policies make employees are dissatisfied (Malik and Naeem, 2013).
ReplyDeleteYes Chanaka. The motivational-hygiene model states that employee motivation is achieved when employees are faced with challenging but enjoyable work where one can achieve, grow, and demonstrate responsibility and advance in the organisation. That is, when the employees’ efforts are recognized, it brings about job satisfaction and motivation (Dartey-Baah & Amoako, 2011).
DeleteI do agree with the fact that initially organizations needs to identify what motivates/demotivates their employees and adapt according to that because Aziri (2011) concluded through a research that employees will be motivated through job satisfaction factors regardless of hygiene or motivator factors.
ReplyDeleteYes. Importance of hygiene factors cannot be ignored since they do have an effect on the job involvement of participants, though the impact level is significantly less than the motivators (Chu and Kuo, 2015)
DeleteIndeed Chamara. Everyone's needs and aspirations are different because there is a standard or benchmark for compensation in the industry that an organization should at least follow to maintain employee job satisfaction, efficiency, and productivity. The conditions for employee retention are enhanced through different approaches, such as performance appraisal, training and development plans, feedback, and the allocation of competitive work. (Raychaudhuri and Farooqi ,2013)
ReplyDeleteYes Harsha. Kacel, Miller & Norris (2005) used two-factor theory to measure job satisfaction among nurse practitioners,
Deleteresult of this study supports the two-factor theory that the highest satisfaction scores were all intrinsic factors
(Motivator) and the lowest satisfaction scores were all extrinsic (Hygiene) factors.
Thank you for sharing this informative article Chamara. I agree with you that a productive environment can be generated by addressing the factors that influence employee job satisfaction and then designing interventions that can be implemented by managers to include and enhance those factors (Munyewende et al., 2014).
ReplyDeleteYes Vindya. Herzberg’s two-factor theory, also known as the motivation-hygiene theory is one of the most significant theories related to job satisfaction (Dion, 2006).
DeleteYes Chamara, Hygiene factors avoid dissatisfaction, but they do not lead to satisfaction, they are necessary only to avoid bad feeling at work, motivators are the actual factors that motivate employees at work (Hong & Waheed,2011).Higher levels of engagement are strongly related to higher levels of innovation (Azizah & Gustomo,2015).
ReplyDeleteYes Sandun. To motivate and satisfy employees, managers need to effectively blend the factors well to suit the special needs of their employees (Dartey-Baah and Amoako, 2011)
DeleteIndeed Chamara. Herzberg’s Motivation theory reflects job satisfaction. One of the principles and main theories in the area of job satisfaction and workplace is Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory proposed by Fredrick Herzberg (1959). In fact, the concept of job satisfaction emerged in Herzberg’s theory. This theory indicates that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are formed by various work factors related to job content. Frederick Herzberg concluded that certain factors in the workplace result in job satisfaction (Maia, 2011).
ReplyDeleteYes Gagana. In order to improve job satisfaction and performance level of workers, managers must work on the motivators by providing opportunities for career advancement and development as workers value motivators more than hygiene factors (Ramlall, 2004).
Delete