Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Two Factor Theory (also known as Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory) was developed by Frederick Herzberg, a psychologist who found that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction acted independently of each other. Two Factor Theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. (Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman 1959).

Two Factor Theory distinguishes between:

* Motivators; (e.g. challenging work, recognition, responsibility) which give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition, achievement, or personal growth, (Hack man & Oldham, 1976) and

* Hygiene factors; (e.g. status, job security, salary and fringe benefits) which do not give positive satisfaction, although dissatisfaction results from their absence. These are extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as company policies, supervisory practices, or wages/salary (Hack man & Oldham, 1976)

Essentially, hygiene factors are needed to ensure an employee is not dissatisfied. Motivation factors are needed in order to motivate an employee to higher performance, Herzberg also further classified our actions and how and why we do them, for example, if you perform a work related action because you have to then that is classed as movement, but if you perform a work related action because you want to then that is classed as motivation.

Unlike Maslow, who offered little data to support his ideas, Herzberg and others have presented considerable empirical evidence to confirm the motivation-hygiene theory. Their work, however, has been criticized on methodological grounds. Nevertheless, Herzberg and his associates have rendered a valuable service to science and to management through their efforts to apply scientific methods to understanding complex motivational problems at work and have stimulated others to continue the search.

Frederick Herzberg interviewed 203 American accountants & engineers, chosen because of their professions growing importance in the business world. The subjects were asked to relate times when they felt exceptionally good or bad about their present job or any previous job, and to provide reasons, and a description of the sequence of events giving rise to that positive or negative feeling.

The research showed that responses tended to be consistent, revealing two different sets of factors affecting motivation at work. One set of factors if absent or weak caused dissatisfaction. These related to the job environment / the context in which the job was performed and thus extrinsic to the job itself, e.g. the quality of supervision, or level of pay. Herzberg labeled these as the Hygiene or Maintenance Factors. The second set of factors if present lead to feelings of satisfaction. These relate to the job itself, for example its complexity, or importance, which Herzberg named the Motivators or Growth Factors.

Fig 1 : Hertzberg's' Two Factor Theory

Herzberg argues that both factors are equally important, but that good hygiene will only lead to average performance, preventing dissatisfaction, but not, by itself, creating a positive attitude or motivation to work. To motivate the employee management must enrich the content of the actual work they ask them to do. For example, building into tasks set a greater level of responsibility, and the opportunity to learn new skills. In advocating making work more interesting, and improving the quality of the work experience for the individual, Herzberg coined the phrase 'Quality of Working Life'.

The table below lists the common hygiene factors and motivators identified within organizations.

Herzberg's Two-factor Theory

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Hygiene Factors Motivators

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Salary,

Job Security,

Working Conditions,

Level and Quality of Supervision,

Company Policy and Administration,

Interpersonal Relations Nature of Work,

Sense of Achievement,

Recognition,

Responsibility,

Personal Growth and Advancement

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Validity and criticisms

In 1968 Herzberg stated that his two-factor theory study had already been replicated 16 times in a wide variety of populations including some in Communist countries, and corroborated with studies using different procedures which agreed with his original findings regarding intrinsic employee motivation making it one of the most widely replicated studies on job attitudes.

While the Motivator-Hygiene concept is still well regarded, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are generally no longer considered to exist on separate scales. The separation of satisfaction and dissatisfaction has been shown to be an artifact of the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) used by Herzberg to record events. Furthermore, it has been noted the theory does not allow for individual differences, such as a particular personality traits, which would affect individuals' unique responses to motivating or hygiene factors.

A number of behavioral scientists have pointed to inadequacies in the need hierarchy and motivation-hygiene theories. The most basic is the criticism that both of these theories contain the relatively explicit assumption that happy and satisfied workers produce more. Another problem is that these and other statistical theories are concerned with explaining "average" behavior and, on the other hand, if playing a better game of golf is the means he chooses to satisfy his need for recognition, then he will find ways to play and think about golf more often, perhaps resulting in an accompanying lower output on the job. Finally, in his pursuit of status he might take a balanced view and strive to pursue several behavioral paths in an effort to achieve a combination of personal status objectives.

In other words, this individual's expectation or estimated probability that a given behavior will bring a valued outcome determines his choice of means and the effort he will devote to these means. In effect, this diagram