Herzberg's two factor theory

Herzberg's two factor theory
Herzberg's two factor theory focus on employees’ personal feelings towards their working environment, attitudes, and level of performance by considering two factors named Hygiene and Motivation (Robbins - 2009). 

Hygiene Factors: 

Hygiene factors are usually known as extrinsic factors which influence to minimize dissatisfaction at the workplace (Aydin, 2012). Hygiene factors include company regulations, interpersonal relationships, salary, and other fringe benefits which are intangible and derived from external factors to identify the level of satisfaction (Aydin, 2012). Hygiene factors are the most critical motivational tools for any organization when implementing strategies, policies, and regulations. At some point of time, employees think that they have been monitored and influenced by the company. This attitude will dissatisfy employees and lead to absenteeism and employee turnover (Aydin, 2012).

Eg: A leading jewelry company in Colombo, recently made new regulations for its employees not to use personal mobile phones at the workplace, as well as employees have been not paid fair enough by considering their working experience and overtime work. These practices will dissatisfy company employees and give a bad impression towards organization.   

Motivational Factors: 

Motivational factors are tangible and derived from internal factors of an organization such as, appreciation, recognition, responsibilities, interesting job, and advanced career growth opportunities (Aydin, 2012).

Eg: POTENZA a software company in Colombo, encourages its employees to think creatively and operate in a very friendly learning culture and always appreciates innovative approaches to problems. After successfully completing a project, employees are rewarded with advanced career growth opportunities in collaborating with higher-caliber professionals in the world. 

Conclusion

Through finding, research, and methodologies, it has been understood that motivation is an important stimulation which directs human behaviour in an organization (Armstrong, 2017). Every organization must practice motivation capabilities to survive and compete in a dynamic corporate environment successfully. Motivation puts human resources into action, improves the level of efficiency of employees and enables organizations to attain sustainable competitive advantage over rivals and ultimately leads to the achievement of organizational goals. 

Employees are self-directed and goal oriented. They can produce high-quality work with more or maximized efficiency and productivity, which also leads an organization to maximize its profits and achieve their desired objectives within a stipulated time. Organizations should increase employee motivation by providing them with monetary and non-monetary benefits such as salary increases, bonuses, and incentives to meet their basic needs, as well as a friendly and safe working environment, training programs, good communication and relationships with higher level management, awards, and recognitions.   

Every organization will not use the same motivation methods; they will differ depending on an organization's tangible and intangible resources. These days, employees have plenty of options to take. Employees expect satisfaction for their work. This often leads them to think about whether to stay or leave the company. Organizations must have proper leadership, resources, and strategies to motivate their employees to increase the efficiency and productivity of the organization to sustain in the market for a long term. 

List of Reference

Armstrong, M and Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 13th ed. London: Kogan Page, Limited. 

Alrawahi, S., Sellgren, S. F., Altouby, S., Alwahaibi, N., and Brommels, M. (2020). The application of Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation to job satisfaction in clinical laboratories in Omani hospitals, Vol.06(9). 

Aydin, O. T. (2012), the impact of motivation and hygiene factors on research performance: An empirical study from a Turkish university, International review of management and marketing, vol.2(2), pp.107-110.

Daily FT, (2019). Potenza secures best automation startup title from CSSL, 16 December, retrieved: 12 April 2021, http://www.ft.lk/IT-Telecom-Tech/POTENZA-secures-Best-Automation-Startup-title-from-CSSL/50-691637.

Robbins, S. P. (2009). Organizational behavior:Global and south African perspective. 02nd ed. Pearson education. Inc, south Africa.  


Comments

  1. Arjun Landers14 May 2021 at 05:01

    Yes Sujeendran, Herzberg's two factor theory is the most commonly used tool for determining job satisfaction (Dion, 2006). However, Hayday (2003) argues that job satisfaction doesn't necessarily lead to productivity and it is difficult to apply this theory to people with monotonous jobs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. E.Sujeendran14 May 2021 at 10:41

      I Agree your valued argument Arjun, After several research, it was found that Herzberges theroy has certain limitations in employee job satisfaction.
      In 1976 Hackman and Oldham developed the Job characteristics theory, which redefined the idea of intrinsic motivation capabilities with the psychological state to motivate employees (Redmond, B. F., 2013). This theory dependent upon the characteristics of the job and are moderated through employee's desire which internally motivate and satisfy employees through well developed job design (Redmond, B. F., 2013). Job design evaluate job and see possible way to redesign if employees were not satisfied at the workplace, this in turn motivate employees to perform and increase the productivity (Redmond, B. F., 2013)

      Delete
  2. Harsha Wijesinghe14 May 2021 at 08:34

    When it comes to identifying motivational factors and hygiene factors, Herzberg’s theory doesn’t focus on age, sex, or the education stage. Vignesh and Babu (2014)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. E.Sujeendran14 May 2021 at 22:07

      Agree Harsha, Hence it depends on employees inner motivation capabilities which is different from individual to individual in terms of knowledge, commitment, attitude and competency shown to complete the daily task and activities (Padmanabhan, H. K. 2017).

      Delete
  3. Chamara D. Jayaweera15 May 2021 at 03:40

    Yes of course, Even though half a century is gone since Herzberg theory was first proposed, organization leadership is urged to first identify what satisfies or dissatisfies their workforce and initiate change programs to nurturing their job satisfaction and elevating job dissatisfaction which may motivate them for higher productivity and retention besides reducing their exit turnover or its intentions (Malik & Naeem, 2013).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Indeevari Ratnayake17 May 2021 at 00:29

    Agree with your views. The basic premise of the Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory is that if an employer is trying to increase job satisfaction and ultimately job performance for an employee, they need to address those factors that affect one’s job satisfaction. The most direct approach is to work on the intrinsic, job content factors. Giving the employee encouragement and recognition helps them to feel more valued within the company, as well as giving a sense of achievement and responsibility (Riley, 2005).

    ReplyDelete

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