Herzberg's theory of motivation hygiene

Ah: what a blast from the past this is! Herzberg's theory of Motivation Hygiene or the "Two Factor Theory" (1959). Herzberg himself called the theory "motivation-hygiene", an concept which sprang from his research into mental health (Miner, 2005).

We are used to thinking in pairs: health/illness; mental health/mental illness, like they are two sides of the same thing. Herzberg's idea was that these two pairs might be distinct ideas or processes; not continua; nor toggles. He wondered if the job satisfaction and dissatisfaction might be a similar decoupled thing: two discrete ideas, not a toggle (Miner, 2005). So he researched how we feel about our work, and came up with a list of things contributing to work satisfaction (i.e. motivation factors), and a second, separate list of contributors leading to dissatisfaction (i.e. hygiene factors) (Miner, 2005).

Hygiene factors are "the presence or absence of job dissatisfiers, such as working conditions, pay, company policies, and interpersonal relationships. When hygiene factors are poor, work is dissatisfying" (Daft, 2008, p. 231). Examples of things which turn us off our work might include: a tangle of red tape such as company policies and administration; overly bureaucratic working conditions; poor interpersonal relations; low salary; a job that is low status; poor security; low trust; being micro-managed; or onerous supervision. These are things that we need to consider when we going to change roles: we may be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Motivating factors meet our "high-level needs such as needs for achievement, recognition, responsibility, and opportunity for growth. Herzberg believed that when motivators are present, workers are highly motivated and satisfied" (Daft, 2008, p. 231). Examples of motivators are likely to include: personal achievement; interesting or rewarding work; a sense of responsibility; opportunities for growth and development; the satisfaction of a job well-done; recognition; advancement; recognition of our peers. These are things we consider when we are in the job, or the things we need to think about with our development.

What was really interesting was that Herzberg thought we should organise HR into a Hygiene division to deliver all the tasks and a Motivation division which dealt with all the motivation factors (Miner, 2005). In many ways, this is the difference between HRM and HRD: HRD looks at job design, seeks competencies, provides feedback, organises training, develops culture, and grows employees. Good spotting, Mr Herzberg!

However, we need to remember that both satisfaction and dissatisfaction can exist together. Criticisms of the model are that it is quite method-bound, and that the separation of the satisfaction & dissatisfaction dimensions is arbitrary; they can both occur simultaneously in our work.

Sam

References:

Daft, R. L. (2008). The Leadership Experience. Cengage.

Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the Nature of Man. World Publishing Company.

Miner, J. B. (2005). Chapter 5: Motivation-Hygiene Theory Frederick Herzberg. In Organizational Behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership (pp. 61-93). Routledge.