frederick hertzberg

What do people want from their jobs? Do they just want a higher salary? Or do they want security, good relationships with co-workers, opportunities for growth and advancement – or something else altogether?

The psychologist Fredrick Herzberg asked the same question in the 1950s and 60s as a means of understanding employee satisfaction. He set out to determine the effect of attitude on motivation, by asking people to describe situations where they felt really good, and really bad, about their jobs. What he found was that people who felt good about their jobs gave very different responses from the people who felt bad.

These results form the basis of Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory (sometimes known as Herzberg's Two Factor Theory). Published in his famous article, "One More Time: How do You Motivate Employees," the conclusions he drew were extraordinarily influential, and still form the bedrock of good motivational practice nearly half a century later.

Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Herzberg's findings revealed that certain characteristics of a job are consistently related to job satisfaction, while different factors are associated with job dissatisfaction. These are:

Factors for Satisfaction	Factors for Dissatisfaction
Achievement Recognition The work itself Responsibility Advancement Growth	Company policies Supervision Relationship with supervisor and peers Work conditions Salary Status Security

Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. From "One More Time: How do You Motivate Employees?" by Frederick Herzberg, January 2003. Copyright © 1968 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved.

The conclusion he drew is that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are not opposites.

• The opposite of Satisfaction is No Satisfaction.
• The opposite of Dissatisfaction is No Dissatisfaction.

Remedying the causes of dissatisfaction will not create satisfaction. Nor will adding the factors of job satisfaction eliminate job dissatisfaction. 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.

Extrinsic Motivators (Hygiene Factors)

Extrinsic motivators tend to represent more tangible, basic needs—i.e., the kinds of needs identified in McClelland's "existence" category of needs in his ERG Theory or in the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Extrinsic motivators include status, job security, salary, and fringe benefits. Managers must realize that not providing the appropriate and expected extrinsic motivators will sow dissatisfaction and unmotivated behavior among employees.

Intrinsic Motivators (Motivation Factors)

Intrinsic motivators tend to represent less tangible, more emotional needs—i.e.,  in the higher levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Intrinsic motivators include challenging work, recognition, relationships, and growth potential. Managers must recognize that while these needs may be outside the more traditional scope of what the workplace should provide, they are absolutely critical in empowering strong individual and team performance.

Herzberg's Theory in Context

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, McClelland's Need Theory, and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs all talk about higher-level psychological needs such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, and advancement. The key factor that differentiates Two-Factor Theory is the idea of expectation.

According to Herzberg, intrinsic motivators and extrinsic motivators have an inverse relationship. This is to say that intrinsic motivators tend to inspire motivation when they are present, while extrinsic motivators tend to reduce motivation when they are absent. This is because of expectation. Extrinsic motivators (e.g., salary, benefits) are expected and so will not increase motivation when they are in place, but they will cause dissatisfaction when they are missing. Intrinsic motivators (e.g., challenging work), on the other hand, can be a source of additional motivation.

If management wants to increase employees' job satisfaction, they should be concerned with the nature of the work itself—the opportunities it presents employees for gaining status, assuming responsibility, and achieving self-realization. If, on the other hand, management wishes to reduce dissatisfaction, then it must focus on the job environment—policies, procedures, supervision, and working conditions. To ensure a satisfied and productive workforce, managers must pay attention to both sets of job factors.

CRITICISM

CRITICISMS OF HERZBERG’S THEORY

His research methodology is being questioned by scholars. The critical incident technique he used by asking people to look at themselves retrospectively does not substantially provide a vehicle for expression of other factors to be mentioned. This methodology may cause people to recall only the most recent experiences.

Herzberg’s theory was conducted on knowledge workers(managers, accountants and engineers) thus scholars criticize its ability to be generalized.

Herzberg’s theory focused too much attention on “satisfaction”-“dissatisfaction” rather than individual performance. Satisfaction may not be directly related to job performance.

Herzberg’s theory fails to account for differences in individuals. While some are motivated by job context variables, others find favor in job content factors depending on his particular circumstance. Baridam(2002)

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN MASLOW’S THEORY AND HERZBERG’S THEORY

Gaurav Akrani(2011) enumerated several dinstictions between Maslow and Herzberg’s theories as follows:

1. IN TERMS OF MEANING: Maslow’S theory is based on the concept of human needs and their satisfaction while Herzberg’s theory is based on the use of motivators which includes achievement, recognition and opportunity for growth.
2. BASIS OF THEORY: Maslow’s theory is based on the hierarchy of human needs. He identified five sets of human needs(on priority basis) and their satisfaction in motivating employees while Herzberg refers to hygiene factors and motivating factors in his theory. Hygiene factors are dissatisfiers while motivating factors motivate subordinate. Hierarchical arrangement of need is not given.
3. NATURE OF THEORY: Maslow’s theory is rather simple and descriptive, the theory is based long experience about human needs. While Herzberg’s theory is more prescriptive. It suggests the motivating factors which can be used effectively. The theory is based on actual information collected by Herzberg after interviewing 203 engineers and accountants.
4. APPLICABILITY OF THEORY: Maslow’s theory is the most popular and widely cited theory of motivation and has wide applicability. It is mostly applicable to poor and developing countries where money is still a big motivating factor. While Herzberg’s theory is an extension of Maslow’s theory of motivation. It is on the other hand applicable to rich and developed countries where money is less important motivating factor.
5. DESCRIPTIVE OR PRESCRIPTIVE: Maslow’s theory is descriptive in nature while Herzberg’s theory is Prescriptive in nature.
6. MOTIVATORS: According to Maslow’s model, any need can act as a motivator provided it is not satisfied while Herzberg in his dual factor model, hygiene factors(lower levels) do not act as motivators, only higher order needs(achievement, recognition, challenging work) act as motivators.