Career motivators - Herzberg’s two factor theory
Part of a series of posts about what motivates us.
Frederick Herzberg’s motivation and hygiene factor theory (sometimes known as Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, is one of the key theories behind motivation and this is based on research he undertook where he asked people to describe situations where they felt good and bad in their jobs. It’s published in an article ‘One more time: How do you motivate employees?’ published in the Harvard Business Review, Sept/Oct 1987.
According to the theory, we are motivated by things that enable us to grow psychologically (motivators). These include:
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ü Achievement
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ü Recognition
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ü The work itself
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ü Responsibility
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ü Advancement
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ü Personal growth
There are also basic factors (the hygiene factors). We are not motivated by these but when we don’t have these we are dissatisfied:
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ü Company policy
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ü Relationships with subordinates, managers and peers
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ü Salary
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ü Security
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ü Status
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ü Supervision
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ü Working conditions
People often think that we are motivated by money; whilst there is a certain amount we all seek to have a “comfortable salary,” we are often not motivated more if we are paid more. This is one reason why lottery winners will continue to work (either in their old job or through a new business) as they get more than money from their work.
Herzberg’s theory states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work are based on different factors and are not opposites. This means that if we are dissatisfied with aspects of your job it will not lead on to satisfaction as you need to consider these two factors separately.
To motivate people you need to first of all eliminate the areas of dissatisfaction by meeting the hygiene factors and then helping people to be more satisfied by meeting the motivators. The Hygiene Factors
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Company policy – are these helpful?
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Relationships with subordinates, managers and peers – is there a culture of respect?
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Salary – is this competitive?
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Security – is there security of employment?
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Status – is there meaningful work at all levels?
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Supervision – is it effective and supportive?
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Working conditions – are they safe?
The Motivators
Once these factors have been addressed you can move onto motivating factors. The theory says that factors of the job should be considered to look at how to make them more satisfying to the person doing the work:
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Achievement – are there opportunities for achievement?
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Recognition – are our contributions recognised?
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The work itself – does it match the skills and abilities of the worker?
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Responsibility – do we have the right amount of responsibility?
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Advancement – is there opportunity for internal promotion?
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Personal growth – is there development opportunities?
You can use this right away as a manager. It is really beneficial to talk with your team and find out what gets them down about their job and what is most likely to motivate them. You can also measure up your own job, look at what is and isn’t being met and see if there are opportunities for greater motivation.
If not this may be one of the reasons why you are unhappy in your job and you will want to make sure that this is addressed next time.
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