Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

Introduction

The basis for the development of this theory was a survey done concerning approximately 200 engineers and accountants belonging to 9 different companies in USA, to measure the factors that made them satisfied or dissatisfied regarding their jobs Armstrong and Taylor (2014). This is also known as “the Dual - Factor Theory” or the “Motivation – Hygiene Theory” (Kumar, 1998).

According to Armstrong and Taylor (2014) according to this theory there are 2 factors that has an impact on employees’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction. They are:

1. Motivating Factors:

These factors are defined to include intrinsic factors such as the opportunities given to an employee, the ability of an employee to perform and achieve, the factors that could derive motivation from the content of the job that an employee works itself (Armstrong and Taylor 2014).

These are further defined as, achievement, advancement, work itself, recognition, professional and personal growth and responsibility. These have a direct impact on the motivation of the employees which leads to their job satisfaction (Thompson, 1996).

2. Hygiene Factors:

These factors are defined to be the conditions for an employee to perform his job. This including the working environment including the Pay and other benefits (Armstrong and Taylor 2014).

These are further defined as factors such as salary, benefits, interpersonal relations with colleagues and supervisors, degree and level of supervision, administrative policies of an organization, job security and working conditions (Thompson, 1996).

In this understanding employees who have the Motivating Factors or the “Motivators” are the employees who are satisfied with their jobs and when the factors which are “Hygienes” and the argument for this theory is that the successful managers of an organization has a vital role in ensuring the employees are given a safe and healthy working environment, satisfactory pay and benefits so that the employees will feel satisfied to perform in their job (Davies, S.J., and Hertig, C.A., 2008).

Application of the theory

The organization that I am currently employed in is a subsidiary of a leading telecommunication entity in the country. My direct reporting Head of the Department is also the Deputy Chief Officer of the Organization, who is a legal professional and the Head of the Human Resource Department. She has a direct control of the accepted salary scale for the job role I am enlisted in and she ensures that the standards of the industry in terms of the experience are in par and that I am provided with a pay which is satisfactory. In terms of the salary which in this case is a hygiene factor, as an employee I am satisfied. Further the organization provides other benefits and ensures that my other needs are met in terms of work environment.  

In application of my scope of the job, the Motivating factor I am not so much satisfied as she shows an impact to limit my scope to one particular task without making use of my other skills as she initially promised. My job seems to be monotonous and without much room for growth and leading to dissatisfaction. The lack of recognition, credit of successful work not being recognized and the limitation of scope are the reduction of the motivating factors.

In application of the many theories, this theory has more relativity to the current situation I am in and hence I am in agreement to this theory in application. 

References:

Armstrong, M and Taylor, S (2014)- Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice – 13^th Ed –UK - Ashford Colour Press

Davies, S.J., and Hertig, C.A., (2008) Security Supervision and Management – 3^rd Ed. – Elsevier Inc.

Kumar, N. (1998) A Genesis of Behavioural Science – New Delhi – Gyan Publishing House

Thompson, D. (1996) Motivating Others Creating the Conditions – Princeton – Eye on Education

The ERG Theory

Introduction 

In the early 1970s there was a need to address the shortcomings that existed in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and it was so done by Clayton Aldefer  who introduced an alternative hierarchy of needs named as the ERG Theory (Borowski, 2005).

Accordingly this theory identified three categories of needs; (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).

1. Existence Needs –

The concern of an individual regarding basic physiological needs such as food, water, pay and working conditions (Borowski, 2005).

2. Relatedness Needs –

This refers to the need to feel interconnected regarding family, friends, co-workers and other significant groups of individuals (Borowski, 2005).

3. Growth Needs –

This refers to the need of an individual to be productive and creative, to make use of his skills and talents and make use of opportunities for personal growth (Borowski, 2005).

Analysis of this Theory:

           

According to Kumar (1998) this theory is said to be:

·       Rational & Consistent taking in to consideration that needs of individuals may vary based on cultural, environmental, education and personal factors such as family.   

Application:

Cultural aspect: The needs that arise in an Asian family background may differ in stages and categories to one that arise in Western Family. This is based on cultural aspects and environmental aspects as individuals get accustomed to the cultures they spend a large time in.

This represents to be more accurate as a family that earns a middle class income has different levels of needs as opposed to a family that earns a higher income.

 Differences between this theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

Further according to Borkowski (2005):

1.  The ERG theory does not require the compulsory adherence of the steps of hierarchy. An individual could differentiate and prioritize based on the requirement of the time. Maslow’s theory on the other hand states that it is mandatory to fulfill a lower need to reach the higher step.

2.     Between cultures the need preferences vary in the ERG theory. Due to this factor the needs are not always as expected in Maslow’s hierarchy.

3.     An individual has the freedom under the ERG theory to resort to an alternative need in the event he is not successful in achieving a particular need.                                                     

Application of the analysis

Comparing the two theories in to a real life scenario, as an employee of the modern workforce it is evident that our needs too change. From the first job experience that we have all had, to the number of years we have worked, our needs have taken different turns.

Initially we all require a job with a decent pay, once we get that we seek for a job with better working conditions, reputation or jobs which we can fulfill our needs, which are always not in a hierarchical order as in Maslow's theory. We change our prioirties on our own accord without any adherence to a particluar order.  

 Reference:

Armstrong, M and Taylor, S. (2014)  Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice – 13^th Ed – UK - Ashford Colour Press

Borkowski, N. (2005) Organizational Behaviour in Health Care – Jones and Bartlett

Kumar, N. (1998) A Genesis of Behavioural Science – New Delhi – Gyan Publishing House 

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Introduction

This could be classified as one of the most significantly popular classification of human needs that belonged to the Content Theory category (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). This is believed to be accepted as the most used theory in the world based on needs, despite its many drawbacks and especially regarding the validity of the theory and the accuracy of the theory (Adiele & Abraham, 2013). 

According to him, this theory has categorized human needs in to 05 different levels, each step should be climbed by an individual without avoiding any. The climb should be from the lowest step to the highest (Kaur, 2013).

Figure 1.1 – Image of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Source:  (Musgrove, 2016)

As per the image stated above as explained by the psychologist, human needs are categorized as follows:

            1. Physiological Needs –

“Man is a wanting Animal” (MacGregor, 2003). This sentence elaborates on the needs that belong to this category which is the lowest order of needs. This includes the needs for food, air, water and shelter, ability to maintain fitness and stay healthy (Ozguner and Ozguner, 2014).

Application:

Employees should be provided with a salary so that they may be able to provide themselves the basic needs stated above.

In addition the organization I work for, provides once a week facility for all staff to engage in Yoga meditation and physical exercises to stay healthy free of charge. Many employees use this to take a break from the daily routine they live in whilst satisfying their needs. 

2. Safety and Security Needs –

This need is elevated after the satisfaction of the basic needs as stated and this could be defined as a human’s desire and expectation to be free from threat and deprivation of security of the body, family, loves ones, employment and other factors that involve the predictability and preservation of himself (Kaur, 2013).

Application:

The organization I work for provides a comprehensive insurance benefit that covers myself and my spouse, in addition to the interest free loan facility that encourages many personal gains such as ability to obtain a vehicle, engage in further education could be stated. 

3. Social Needs –

The need for this arises after the activation of both the basic and safety needs are activated. The need of a human to feel connected on levels of love, sexuality, the need and desire for affection and acceptance, friendships and intimate relationships (Abbah, 2014).

            Application:

The organization I work for has many interactive events once in 2-3 months. Commencing from out bound training, divisional meet-ups after working hours, events such as New Year celebrations, Dinner Dances and Talent Shows are instances given to us to interact with work colleagues on a social level. 

4. Esteem Needs –

These could be termed as achievements that satisfies the mentality of a human. It includes the need to feel accepted, appreciated and receive a social status. The need to give and receive respect and having self-confidence (Abbah, 2014).

Application:

The organization I work for has monthly emails circulated stating the achievements especially of the sales and marketing divisions. Further they have an Annual Awards Ceremony that achievers are recognized in many ways under various categories of awards designed to appreciate the achievements of employees. 

5. Self-actualization Needs –

The requirement of this need only arises after the previously stated needs are met adequately by the individual seeking it (Jerome, 2013). This could be defined as the ultimate realization of an individual of his purpose in life (Kaur, 2013). 

References:

Abbah, M.T. (2014) Employee Motivation: The Key to Effective Organizational Management in Nigeria. Journal of Business and Management. Volume 16, Issue 4.

Adiele, E. E. & Abraham, N. M., (2013) Achievement of Abraham Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 2(1), pp. 140-144.

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., (2014) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice -13^th Ed.– UK - Ashford Colour Press

Jerome, N., (2013) Application of the Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, 2(3), pp. 39-45.

Kaur, A., (2013) Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 03(10), pp. 1061-1064.

MacGregor, D., (2003) The Human side of Enterprise. In: M. J. Handel, ed. The Sociology of Organisations. 1st ed. California: Sage Publications, pp. 108-115.

Musgrave, S. (2016) Employee engagement according to Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs. [image] Available at: http://www.brighterbusiness.co.uk/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-for-employers/[Accessed on 24^th May 2020]

Ozguner, Z., Ozguner,M.,(2014). A Managerial Point of View on the Relationship between of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory. International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 5, No. 7.

Motivation and Job Satisfaction

Introduction 

A social arrangement that is created in order to achieve a set of goals which are collectively acceptable through performance of individuals which are controlled could be defined as what an organization is (Stewart, 1973). The main reasons for organizations to so exist are of two folds. One is to maximize profit and the other is to maximize shareholder value (Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991).  

With the growth in technology, and individuals’ development in the need to be more informed many are now very much aware of the rights at their workplace (Dartey-Baah, 2010). Job satisfaction could be defined as the approach and attitude along with feelings, employees have regarding their work (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).

Armstrong and Taylor, (2014) further went on to distinguish and state that the main indicators of job satisfaction are a positive and favourable attitude by the employees towards their work. A similar view was shared by Daft (2003) which means and include that having a positive feeling towards a job by an individual could be defined as job satisfaction. On the contrary Armstrong and Taylor, (2014) further stated that job dissatisfaction would mean the negative and unfavourable attitudes of the employees. 

Armstrong and Taylor, (2014) have stated 3 factors that affect job satisfaction. Meaning to include that an employee’s level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction is based on the factors stated below:  

1. Intrinsic motivating factors:

This relates to the five factors identified by Hackman and Oldham (1975) to mean and include skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. 

2. Quality of Supervision:

Supervision is one of the most dominant and determinant factors that decide and influence attitudes of employees.

3. Success or failure:

The understanding of these terms are quite evident as, an employee who is successful will always be satisfied as they tend to accept that their full potential has been utilized as opposed to an employee who is not successful. 

Connecting job satisfaction and motivation leads to the common and accepted belief that job satisfaction and performance of an employee too is closely connected (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). This belief was researched to give two levels of understanding.

a.      The Roethlisberger and Dixon (1939) research
Meeting the social needs of the employees and providing them with adequate, supportive and pleasing supervision productivity could be increased by making the employees satisfied.

b.     Katz et al (1950) and Katz et al (1951) research
      There was no significant difference between units in an organization with high and low productivity simply because the pay, status of the job or other fellow employees were variable. 

Application:

As a professional whose services are employed by a leading Blue-chip organization in the country, simply having a higher pay and job recognition alone would not derive satisfaction. The need to make maximum use of my skills and abilities, having the freedom to interact more with fellow employees professionally and socially, the ability to make a change in the system I am directly associated with for the benefit of the organization and the ability to be more engaged directly and indirectly would make me more satisfied and motivated as an employee.  

Reference:

Armstrong, M., and Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice – 13^th Ed. – UK – Ashford Colour Press

Daft, R.L. (2003) Management - 6th Ed -Thomson Learning

Dartey-Baah, S. K. (2010) Job Satisfaction and Motivation: Understanding Its Impact on Employee Commitment and Organizational Performance - Volume 8 Issue 4 Fall

Dartey-Baah, S. K. (2005) Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Y: Their Construct and Application in Non Profit Making Organizations (Evangelical Churches) in London.

Ph.D diss., Trinity College, Newburgh/Canterbury University, London.

Huczynski, A.A., and Buchanan, D.A., (1991) 'Organizational Behaviour'-An introductory text - 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall (UK) Ltd. Pp 436- 466

Katz, D., Maccoby, N., Gurin, G., and Floor, L G. (1951)  Productivity, Supervision and Morale in an Office Situation, Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan

Katz, D., Maccoby, N., and Morse, N C. (1950) Productivity, Supervision and Morale among Railway Workers, Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan

Roethlisberger, F., and Dickson, W. (1939) Management and the Worker, Cambridge, MA, - Harvard University Press

Stewart, R. (1973) In Huczynski, A. A., and Buchanan. D. A. (1991) Organizational Behaviour -An introductory text 2nd Ed. - Prentice Hall (UK) Ltd. pp 48

Motivation in an Employee

Introduction

A significantly large portion of the time of millions of individuals across the globe are spent at their places of employment, irrespective of the nature of employment. Spending such a large amount of time has made the need of Motivation more essential to make them engaged in the job role that they are due to perform. This is because productivity and motivation are closely connected (Gagne, 2014).

It is human nature that defines and determines the levels of its behavior, effort and persistence which could be termed as Motivation and this motivation is an essential element to any employee to effectively engage in their work and the responsibility of providing an environment that makes an employee feels motivated, falls within the respective management of the Organization (Lauby, 2015). 

Armstrong and Taylor (2014) defines motivation to include a force that could sustain, direct and energize human behavior, which connects the facts that individuals who are motivated highly and who are given a power to decide on how to perform the task are automatically high performers and they volunteer to perform in such a manner.   

The definition of motivation could be in inferred from “movere” a Latin word which means movement. In order to do a particular task, there should be a motive which in turn should have a reason to retain that motive and as stated above, it could be further elaborated that humans are motivated to complete a particular task or engaging in a given course of action will result in an achievement of a qualified and/or quantified reward which could be of a high value to them Armstrong and Taylor (2014).

Components of Motivation as described by Arnold et al (1991):

1 Direction – the task in which an individual is attempting.

2 Effort – the manner in which this individual is attempting the task.

3 Persistence – the duration in which the individual investing to attempt the states task.

Categories of Motivation

Armstrong and Taylor (2014) categorizes motivation in the below manner: 

1. Intrinsic Motivation

This is the type of motivation which is self-developed by the employee. Given the free will, freedom and discretion to act and perform on the job, the level of contentment, satisfaction and achievement that is felt by the employee in discharging the job roles assigned to them falls under this category. The make use of their skills and abilities along with their strengths to the opportunities given to them.

It could be termed as the need of the employee to feel skilled, capable and proficient in performing the duties assigned and it is determined by the employees themselves Deci and Ryan (1985).

This type of motivation could be increased and made largely effective based on the manner in which jobs are designed Katz (1964).

Application:

An employee introducing a novel procedure or a policy in the relevant department for effectively performing the job assigned. 

E:g : Creating a handbook containing procedures for the operations of a given department

2. Extrinsic Motivation

This is where the environment of the organization plays a significant role to motivate the employees. Certain acts which are done in order to encourage employees to perform successfully in their job roles falls under this category.  Based on the degree of the motivation provided it can have an exceptionally powerful impact.

Application:

Naming an employee of the month

Star achievers of sales department to be displayed on a periodic basis

Award employees of the Quarter and provide monetary rewards  

Promotions, incentives and increased pay to be given to performers

Introduce various award categories and be awarded ceremoniously 

References:

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice – 13^th Ed. – UK - Ashford Colour Press

Arnold, J., Robertson, I T., and Cooper, C L. (1991) Work Psychology, London, Pitman

Deci, E L., and Ryan, R M. (1985) Intrinsic Motivation and Self-determination in Human Behaviour – NewYork - Plenum

Gagne, M, (2014) The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation and Self – Determination Theory – New York - Oxford University Press  

Katz, D (1964) The Motivational Basis of Organizational Behaviour, Behavioural Science, 9, pp 131–36

Lauby, S (2015) Motivating Employees in the Digital Age – VOL 32/ Issue 1512 – Association of the Talent Development – Alexandria 

Employee Engagement

Many of the organizations in the world today have employees who are willing and do give more than what is required from them. This is the level of motivation that is needed in any organization and this is the kind of motivation which cannot be exchanged in terms of monetary consideration (LaPorta, P, 2003).

Employees need a reason and a motivation to engage in their work and this was addressed in the following manner: People need motivation, inspiration, a sense of belonging, something to believe in, a purpose and mainly a sense of comfort in all they do. They not only need this factor at their homes but also at their places of work and organizations that in fact address these factors are recognized as employee friendly and humane organizations (Chang R, 2001).

Employee engagement is relatively a new topic that needed recognition spanning not longer than close to two decades ago in the field of Human Resource Management as per writings of (Maben, West, and Robinson. 2005). It could be characterized as the feelings of commitment, passion and energy which could result in increased innovation and effort, high levels of effort along with tendency to take initiatives to do a task ad exceeding expectations (Dickson, 2011).

The founding father of employee engagement William Kahn (1990) defines employee engagement as “the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances”. Robinson et al. (2004) define employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its value. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.

It is further understood that the terms ‘job satisfaction’, ‘motivation’ and ‘commitment’ are generally being replaced now in business by ‘engagement’ because it appears to have more descriptive force and face validity (Reilly and Brown, 2008).

Employee engagement has 3 core components as stated by Alfes et al (2010):

1. Intellectual engagement – thinking hard about the job and how to do it better; 

2. Affective engagement – feeling positively about doing a good job; 

3. Social engagement – actively taking opportunities to discuss work-related improvements            with others at work.

Further on another note engagement is said to have 3 overlapping components. 

1. Motivation 

2. Commitment 

3. Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

                                  Exhibit 1.1: The IES Model of Employee Engagement

              Source: Armstrong et al (2010)

The exhibit illustrates the model that has been produced by the Institute of Employment Studies and presented in the above figure as the IES model of employee engagement.

Rich, Lepine, and Crawford (2010) state that, employees who are engaged display higher performance by putting more cognitive, emotional and physicals energy into their work. Moreover, these employees are more focused, work as a team, connected, and moreover satisfied with what they do as a part of their job role.

Application:

An employee who is engaged can always be motivated to come up with new ideas. These ideas can be innovative to generate more profits or to reduce the cost involved. In a company that is always used to using printed documents an engaged employee could come up with an initiative to go Green and reduce printing documents. This in the long run benefits the company in the cost factor.

An employee coming up with an efficient mechanism or a procedure to streamline a process is an employee with increased engagement.

References:

Alfes, K, Truss, C, Soane, E C, Rees, C and Gatenby, M (2010) Creating an Engaged Workforce, London, CIPD

Armstrong, M, Brown, D and Reilly, P (2010) Evidence Based Reward Management, London, Kogan Page

Chang R, (2001) The Passion - Plan at Work – Building a Passion Driven Organization – Jossey – Bass 

Dickson D, (2011) Fostering Employee Engagement – Practical Tools and Best Practice Techniques – HRD Press, Inc. 

Kahn, W (1990) - Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work, - Academy of management journal 33, 692-724

LaPorta, P (2003) – Ignite the Passion – A Guide to motivational Leadership – Bloomington – USA.

Rafferty A. M., Maben J., West E., and Robinson D. (2005) - What makes a good employer? Issue Paper 3 International Council of Nurses Geneva

Reilly, P and Brown, D (2008) Employee engagement: future focus or fashionable fad for reward management? World at Work Journal, 17 (4), pp 37–49

Rich, B., Lepine, J. and Crawford, E. (2010). Job Engagement: Antecedents and Effects on Job Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), pp.617-635.

Robinson D., Perryman S., and Hayday S. (2004). The Drivers of Employee Engagement Report 408, Institute for Employment Studies, UK