Herzberg’s two-factor theory
Frederick
Herzberg’s two-factor theory revealed that human’s behavior is influenced by
two sets of factors which are the satisfaction factor and the dissatisfaction
factor
Based
on the theory, Frederik Herzberg pointed out the two components which
contribute to the state of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, called motivator
factors and hygiene factors as show in figure 1
Motivator
factors, including personal achievement, status, recognition, the work itself,
responsibility, growth, promotion, and opportunity for advancement, are
described as intrinsic factors
Motivator Factors
Presence
of motivator factors such as achievement, recognition, responsibility,
advancement & personal growth will effect to employee motivation and absence
of these motivation factors will not subject to employees’ dissatisfaction
Hygiene
Factors
Hygiene factors includes; interpersonal
relationships, company policies and administration, working conditions, quality
of supervision, job security, salary, wages and relationship with assistants
Application of Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory
I have been working for a leading event management
organization in Sri Lanka. Currently, there is no HR department or a HR manager
in the company and all the HR roles are handled by the management. The
management is not having a proper knowledge in HR practices and theories. The
event management industry is considered as one of the tough occupations for its
employees due to the nature of work. They are long working hours, deadlines, and
unforeseen situations. My co-workers and colleagues are struggling to fulfill
their basic needs due to insufficient income even though most of them are
executive level employees. In addition to this, the company has neglected the
significant of arranging hygiene factors within the organization and it has
badly affected on employee motivation.
Following factors are not currently exist in the company and I would propose some suggestions to eliminate job dissatisfaction.
1. No proper salary increment system
In the company, the management has not carried
out proper salary increment system. Some employees are given salary increment for
improper time periods. The percentage also differ from employee to employee and
this is not based on their seniority or performance.
Suggestion – Management should introduce proper increment system which should be transparent and fair for all departments.
2.
Even though the employee appraisal
system is considered as one of the most important process for all organization,
the company has not implemented it for last 8 years. Employees are not getting
any opportunity to discuss about their achievements, problems, limitations with
the management. Due to this situation, employee are dissatisfied with their
jobs and they have less concern on improving of their work. In fact the
employees are not interested on giving new ideas and innovations since the
management does not appreciate or value the employees’ commitments on a regular
basis.
Suggestion - The management should consult a third party resource
and acquire the knowledge on how to carry out proper employee appraisal system.
This will be helpful to develop employee’s engagement in their jobs. If the
employees perceive that their hard work and new ideas are appreciated and
valued by the management, they will start delivering their fullest contribution
towards achieving the organization goals.
3. Lack of knowledge in HR management
The company is a service organization and it completely
depends on human resources. Since the management is not having an appropriate
understanding in HR management, many employees are facing lot of issues with
their jobs. Some employees work over two to three weeks continuously with long
hours but still the management does not consider on giving day off of any reimbursement according to HR
practices.
Suggestion – If the management is unable to form a separate
HR department due to the cost factor and the scale of the organization. The
company can appoint new employee who is qualified and experience in HR
management. Furthermore the top management can attend seminars and workshops in
human resource management. That will be the best way to solve HR problems in
the company.
4. No incentive or reward
system on employees’ achievements
The company’s main income
sources are space hiring and sponsorship which is performed by the sales team.
Management has given sales target for each events but when the employees reach
their targets they won’t receive any incentives, commissions and rewards. This
lead employees towards demotivation and certain employees may not give their
maximum inputs. For the last few years, some events income is stagnated or
growing rate has noticeably gone down.
Suggestion – Management can
introduce a proper incentive and rewards system which should be based on the
employees’ performance. This will definitely help to enhance the hygiene
factors in the company.
When the company implements
above system properly, hygiene factors will be enhanced and it will prevent
employees from dissatisfaction. Further, existence of hygiene factors will not
make employees motivated but will avoid dissatisfaction and at the same time
that will be the beginning point of the motivation. However, motivation can be
not created by improving this hygiene conditions (Huling, 2003).
References
Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. & Maude, P., 2017.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. Life Science Journal, 14(5), pp. 12-16.
Herzberg, F., 1987. One more time: How do you motivate
employees?. The United States of America: Harvard Business Review .
Huling, E., 2003. Rough Notes. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 2(1), pp. 17-24.
Ruthankoon, R. & Ogunlana, S. O., 2003. Testing
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory in the Thai Construction Industry. Engineering,
Construction and Architectural, 10(5), pp. 333-342.
Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G. & Osborn, R. N.,
2003. Organizational Behavior. 8th ed. Hoboken: John Wiley&Sons, Inc.
Worlu, R. E. K. & Chidozie, F., 2012. The Validity of
Herzberg’s Dual-Factor Theory on Job Satisfaction of Political Marketers. An
International Multidisciplinary Journal, Ethiopia, 6(1), pp. 39-50.
Zhou, Z., 2017. HARPER ZHOU'S BLOG. [Online] Available at: https://blogs.ubc.ca/comm292ziqingzhou/2017/04/02/64/ [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Interested Supun. Additionally, motivation is the key factor to get peoples engagement to their works. Within any field it is a unique aspect and it can’t avoid within any job category. To people get engaged with any activity that assign by the company, to do it easily, motivation would be the main key factor. Because context of the motivation and job engagement is behave together within every organization (Evans 1998).
ReplyDeleteAgree with your views. Organizational structures commonly consist with rewards systems as an employee motivational factor with the intention of improvement in performance levels. On the other hand, lack of motivation will result negatively result in both employee and organizational performance (Sutikno, 2019). According to research findings by Jamil and Raja (2011), increase in salary/wages and compensations (rewards) has a significant positive impact on employee’s performance.
ReplyDeleteIt’s evident that the balance between hygiene and motivation factors reflect the optimal level of motivation in an organization. But which element the organization should give prominence differ on the type of the organization and the internal situation (Dartey-Baah & Amoako, 2011).
ReplyDelete