Organisational Behavior

Organisational Behavior

2006 Frederick Herzberg 's two-factor theory of job attitudes and motivation is a result of the results of an experiment as presented by Herzberg in 1959 after giving instructions to 203 Pittsburgh engineers and accountants to give account of times they felt exceptionally good or exceptionally bad about their presents or previous jobs (Wall Stephenson , 1970

The theory is made up of two parts

The first part states that job factors can be separated into two categories the factors that contribute to job satisfaction and rarely to

job dissatisfaction (Motivators ) and the other category (Hygienes comprising the factors that contribute to job dissatisfaction and rarely to job satisfaction (Gardner , 1977

The second part purports the idea that paying more attention to Motivators will increase satisfaction but will not affect dissatisfaction . Conversely , paying more attention to Hygiene factors will decrease dissatisfaction but will not increase satisfaction

Another definition of the theory , as defined in the Personnel Psychology journal (Schwab Heneman , 1970 ) states that factors that cause job satisfaction are separate and distinct from the factors that [lead] to job dissatisfaction . The six Motivator factors are Recognition Achievement , Possibility of Growth , Advancement , Responsibility and Work Itself . These six are more likely to be associated with favourable job experiences than not . The theory also proposes the ten Hygiene factors of Salary , Interpersonal Relations-Superior , Interpersonal Relations-Subordinate , Interpersonal Relations-Peers Supervision-Technical , Company Policy and Administration , Working Conditions , Factors in Personal Life , Status and Job Security . These are more often than not , associated with unfavourable job experiences

In the words of Schwab , DeVitt and Cummings , the satisfiers ' range upward from an indifference point in terms of satisfaction- neutrality but are not sources of job dissatisfaction . While the dissatisfiers range downward from neutrality and have no contribution to job satisfaction (Schwab , Devitt Cummings , 1971

Herzberg 's theory with a classification system that provides 16 job satisfaction factors has been highly successful in terms of its impact in the area of Job Attitude research which says satisfy workers and they will work harder . It was found to adopt all three aims of job attitude research (economic , humanistic and theoretical . Economic aims are concerned with the profitability and efficiency motive . The humanistic view is that one 's time at work should be made as pleasurable and meaningful as possible . While the theoretical aim of job attitude research is to increase our understanding of man . Job Enrichment theories are also said to have found their origin in the two-factor theory (Wall Stephenson , 1970

Furthermore , it has brought about much advancement in industrial change by providing an important source of insight to the industrial environment

Another major contribution is in the differentiation between job content and job context . Managers are especially attentive to this theory because it explains why productivity does not improve when management improves environmental hygiene

Herzberg 's work has given valuable insight into the perception of people in their working and living environments and has shown that the psychological approach to the study of work motivation is...