Question

Herzberg's research was the first real attempt to examine motivation in the workplace. Describe Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation including the practical takeaways for the use of this theory.

extended essay question. for organizational behavior. thank you!

Answer 1

Herzberg’s theory of motivation is based on the responses collected by the critical incident method. He explained the role of Job satisfiers or motivators & Job dissatisfiers or Hygiene factors in the process of motivation.

Herzberg’s job contents & job context factors:-

• Job Content factors (Motivators) – Recognition, Responsibility, Growth, Job satisfaction & Achievement.
• Job Context factors (Hygiene factors) – Supervision, Pay, Status, Job security, Working conditions, Interpersonal relation with peers & subordinates, Company policies, etc.

Contribution to Motivation/Workplace culture

• The main point that enlightened was – Hygiene factors like pay, working condition, etc are job context factors that are significant in preventing dis-satisfaction but do not provide satisfaction.
• Jobs that involve challenges & responsibilities & career opportunities for growth, achievement does motivate personnel & leads to job satisfaction.
• Enrichment, Enlargement of job & empowerment of employees will increase motivation & increase the job satisfaction of an employee.
• Herzberg extended the Need hierarchy theory of Maslow by making it applicable to work motivation. His Job design concept contributed to reforming the work environment.
• From a holistic perspective his theory has given a better illustration of Job context & Job Content factors, thus gave a new direction to the previous theories of motivation.
• Further Maslow & Herzberg’s theory became the basis on which the process theories of motivation could explain the relationship between performance & satisfaction.

Herzberg’s theory (Factors affecting attitudes of employees at work) stated that job dissatisfaction can be a result of the absence of hygiene factors, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction. However, his theory is criticized as - Pay, status could lead to both satisfaction & dis-satisfaction i.e. strict interpretation of the theory can not be supported with evidence. i.e. vague classification of some factors.

The theory seems to be more relevant in today's times where it is observed that even the people placed at high profile jobs seem to be dissatisfied when it comes to nature & worth of the job. Some of them even question the worth of their job based on the relevance of their work towards people& society. The theory is more applicable for today's white-collar workers or employees working in the IT (Information Technology) industry. Here, the theory of Herzberg fits well to question the level of satisfaction of such people by placing them in two factors i.e. Hygiene factor & Motivators.

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