The theory of motivation
On this occasion I want to write about Herzberg’s theory of motivation as well, also called the two-factor theory. Although many professionals theorize about motivation, I want to put on the table Herzberg’s theory because it seems simple and extremely elegant in classifying the various factors that can influence motivation in the workplace into two simple groups.
- Hygiene factors: The presence of these factors does not necessarily motivate people to work hard, but the absence of these will demotivate people in the workplace.
- Motivational Factors or motivating agents or motivations: The presence of these factors will motivate people to work hard.
The hygiene factors
Herzberg’s Hygiene factors are MANDATORY factors without which people cannot be motivated. These are the factors that are essential for motivation to exist in the workplace.
The existence of hygiene factors does not necessarily lead to positive satisfaction, but the absence of these factors will result in negative satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Hygiene factors can be said to be physiological and safety needs that individuals expect to be satisfied.
Some examples of Herzberg’s hygiene factors:
- Personal safety and good working conditions: The equipment and the work environment must be safe, suitable for use, and hygienic.
- Company policies: Company policies must be fair and clear to employees, in addition, they must also be in line with their competitors.
- Fair compensation: Salary must be fair, reasonable, in line with industry standards, and competitive with other organizations in the same industry.
- Job security: Employees must feel that their job is secure and that they are not under constant threat of being fired.
- Good relationships at work: There should be collaborative, friendly, and generally healthy relationships between colleagues, superiors, and subordinates.
- Work-life balance: Employees should not be overwhelmed with work and unrealistic expectations that leave them with no time for personal life. Proper care must be taken for employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Among many others…
The motivating factors
These factors motivate employees to better performance since they are perceived as additional benefits. Motivational factors, if present, would lead to positive satisfaction, but the absence of these factors does not necessarily lead to negative satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Some examples of Herzberg’s motivating factors:
- Rewards and recognition: A job should provide the employee with praise and recognition for her successes. This recognition should come from both your superiors and your peers.
- Achievement: A job should give the employee a sense of accomplishment. This will provide a sense of pride that you have done something difficult but worthwhile.
- Nature of work: The work should not be monotonous but meaningful, and interesting, and provide sufficient challenge to keep employees motivated.
- Stewardship: Employees should not be micromanaged, but should feel that they have enough freedom to own their work and are responsible for its completion.
- Professional growth: Employees must play a high visibility role with the possibility of high professional growth.
Among many others…
The four possible states of an organization
As per Herzberg’s theory, and based on the above-mentioned points, there are four states where an organization or a team can find themselves concerning the hygiene factors and motivational factors:
High hygiene and high motivation: This is the best and ideal situation for any organization or team. In this state, employees are motivated to do their best and there are few or no grievances.
High hygiene and low motivation: This is a state, where employees have all basic needs met and are little to no grievances regarding pay or working conditions. However, the work is not very interesting for the employees and they only come to work for their salary. Employees will move if they find roles that pay as well as their current organizations and have the opportunity to work on interesting things.
Low hygiene and high motivation: In low hygiene, high motivation situations, employees are highly motivated to come to work but have many unresolved complaints. The most typical example is when employees are working on some very challenging technologies and exciting projects, but the pay is lower compared to the competition or not in line with industry standards.
Low hygiene and low motivation: This is the most undesirable situation for any organization or team. This is where the employees are underpaid and the work is also uninteresting. Unless their complaints are addressed, employees begin to leave the organization if situations persist in this state.
So, how do apply this theory to unmotivated employees?
There are several signs through which you can identify that your employees are demotivated. Some of them are Low productivity, High attrition rate, frequent complaints about wages and working conditions, poor quality of service to your end customers or production of low-quality products, employee strike events, etc.
According to Herzberg’s theory of motivation, in a scenario like the one above, management should focus on reorganizing the work so that the motivating factors can be activated. Job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment are the three strategies employers could implement in situations like this to re-motivate. unmotivated employees.
Summary
Herzberg’s theory of motivation is also called the two-factor theory. According to this theory, the factors that influence motivation in the workplace can be classified into two groups: hygiene factors, and motivating factors.
The presence of hygiene factors will not lead to higher satisfaction, but the absence of these factors will lead to dissatisfaction and low motivation.
Motivating factors are like fringe benefits that employees are positively more satisfied with and this could lead to better performance, but the absence of these factors does not necessarily lead to negative satisfaction.
Every organization and team should point to achieving a state of high hygiene and high motivation and always avoid the state of low hygiene and low motivation.
