Frederick Herzberg
performed studies on 200 accountants and engineers to find out the attitudes of
people toward their work, and came up with what is called the dual-factor theory, also called Frederick Herzberg performed studies on 200 accountants and engineers to find out the attitudes of people toward their work, and came up with what is called the dual-factor theory, also called motivator-hygiene theory.
Herzberg discovered two
sets of factors that he saw as playing a part in worker motivation matters. One
of the sets was called satisfiers and
the other dissatisfiers.
Satisfiers, also called
motivators, were factors ‘internal’ to the job a person did, and among them
were achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement.
Satisfiers, according to Herzberg, were responsible for making a person
increase their work input:they produced job satisfaction and motivation.
The dissatisfiers were
factors external to the work, or to do with work context, rather than its
content. They included supervision, working conditions, salary, interpersonal
relations and working conditions. Because these were dynamics surrounding the job,
they were additionally called environmental
factors. So, what is it there is about the dissatisfiers?
According to Herzberg, dissatisfier
factors, when they are favourable, cannot motivate a person to higher levels of
performance. When unfavourable, however, dissatisfiers produce job
dissatisfaction.
As can be seen, one of
Herzberg’s messages was that there was a group of factors that produced
satisfaction and another (different group) that produced dissatisfaction.
Satisfiers and
dissatisfiers are not at two opposite ends of a single continuous scale. They
are simply two different, unconnected sets of factors responsible for different
motivational results.
Absence of motivators
(satisfiers), according to Herzberg, cannot really cause job dissatisfaction,
but it also cannot produce satisfaction and motivation to work harder and
better. Work-related satisfaction and motivation in an individual are present
only when there are such conditions as chances to advance and achieve;
challenging responsibility; and recognition. Motivators simply replace a
situation of ‘no satisfaction’ with one of satisfaction.
When dissatisfiers are
favourable, they do not produce satisfaction or motivation. They only remove
job dissatisfaction; leaving what Cook, Hunsaker and Coffey (1997: 190-192)
refer to as ‘neutral feelings’.
Similarities
BetweenMaslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
and Herzberg’s Motivator-hygiene Factor Theory.
Dissatisfiers in Herzberg’s
theory closely match the two lower needs (physiological, and safety and
security needs) in Maslow’s theory. Satisfiers correspond to the two higher
needs (self-esteem and self-actualisation needs) in Maslow’s hierarchy. Social
needs in Maslow’s theory fall into both
satisfier and dissatisfier categories in Herzberg’s theory.
Pluses
and Minuses of Herzberg’s Dual-factor Theory
Perhaps the biggest
strength of Herzberg’s theory is that it emphasises that job enrichment is the surest way to raise the standard of work
input of an individual. Job enrichment, in this sense, means giving more scope
and challenge, and enabling an individual to, for example, see prospects for advancement
and achievement in their career, and earning recognition.
One criticism of
Herzberg’s theory is the inclusion of pay as a dissatisfier: some research has
revealed that pay can be a motivator. Some studies have also suggested that -
depending on an individual - a factor can cause either
satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Rupert Chimfwembe
February, 2016.
