Renowned psychologist Frederick Herzberg earned his fame thanks to his work in the field of occupational psychology. Specifically, he dedicated himself to the administrative management of companies, speaking from a psychological perspective of it.
Thanks to his theory of the two factors, it was possible to better understand what made a worker satisfied and, on the contrary, what prevented him. As we will see in this article, when reeling off his theory, it is very useful in work and organizational psychology, being applied even today in numerous companies. In this Psychology-Online article you will discover the Herzberg's two-factor theory of work motivation, which is also called the theory of motivation and hygiene. [1]
In the two factor theory or theory of motivation and hygiene, Herzberg establishes that workers (in reality, all individuals) have a series of needs. These are the needs classified as basic by the author, specifically they are motivation and hygiene, hence the name of his theory. Although we will detail each of them later, the important thing is to understand what happens if these needs are not covered or satisfied.
An important fact is that, while the factors of hygiene refer to the dissatisfaction, those of motivation they do it at satisfaction. These factors would be completely independent, that is, a motivating factor can only cause work satisfaction or not, but it would never cause dissatisfaction, being one-way. Nor are they contrary, if one goes up the other does not have to go up or down, that is, if satisfaction increases, this, by itself, does not affect dissatisfaction.
The two factors of Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory are:
Motivation
The first factor in Herzberg's theory is motivation. It refers to intrinsic, satisfying or content factors. Motivational factors are what generate satisfaction. The continuum of feelings would go from satisfaction to non-satisfaction. Examples of motivating factors are:
- Recognition
- The degree of responsibility
- Labor independence
- The promotion
Here you will find more information about motivation in psychology.
Hygiene
The second factor in Herzberg's theory is hygiene: so-called hygiene, extrinsic, unsatisfactory or context factors. These factors include the conditions of the individual's work environment, causing their dissatisfaction. In this case the continuum oscillates between dissatisfaction and non-dissatisfaction. Some examples would be:
- Salary
- Company policy
- The supervision
- Peer relationships
In his theory, Herzberg provides a number of tips that facilitate satisfaction and non-dissatisfaction of the workers, avoiding that the interests of the company and those of the worker come into conflict, something that happens quite frequently. These tips are:
- Responsibility: Herzberg recommends gradually increasing the responsibility workers have, giving them more and more relevant and necessary jobs. This is more effective if the complexity of the tasks is increased jointly.
- Personalization and growth: grant workers special, personalized or extraordinary tasks, which are designed to improve their skills important to the performance of their position.
- Offer more freedom and flexibility to the worker.
- Remove controls and restrictive and excessive supervision, exchanging them for a much more effective support model.
- Give feedback to workers about the repercussions of their jobs and the achievements they have made. Provide feedback on tasks and performance.
- Create a good atmosphere work, in which good relations are established between workers, promoting cooperation and never aggressive competition between them.
- Adequate salary: provide workers with a decent salary, fair and adjusted to their position, in turn ensuring stability for the individual.
In the following article you will find personal motivation techniques at work.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
