Herzberg Motivational Theory
Frederick Herzberg
Motivational theory
Frederick Herzberg an American psychologist regarded as one of the great original thinkers in management and motivational theory.
Herzberg Model defined two sets of factors in determining an employee’s working attitude and level of performance name Motivation and Hygiene factors.
Motivators: Motivation factors are essential to motivate an employee to higher performance.Examples: Meaningful and challenging work, recognition for one’s achievement, responsibility, involvement in decision making, sense of importance to an organization, etc
Hygiene factors: These do not lead higher motivation or cause satisfaction but in its absence there is dissatisfaction. The term hygiene is used in the sense that these are maintenance factors. Hygiene factors are extrinsic to work.Examples: Pay, job security, company policies, security, status, etc.
The Four Combinations
According to Herzberg’s Model, here are 4 possible combinations:
High Hygiene and High Motivation: The perfect situation where employees are highly motivated and have fewer complaints.
High Hygiene and Low Motivation: Employees have fewer complaints but are not highly motivated. The job is viewed as a pay check.
Low Hygiene and High Motivation: Employees are motivated but have a lot of complaints. A situation where the job is exciting and challenging but salaries and work conditions are not up to standard or par.
Low Hygiene + Low Motivation: Employees are not motivated and have many complaints.