Two Factor Theory
(Herzberg)

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According to the Two Factor Theory of Frederick Herzberg people are influenced by two factors. Satisfaction and psychological growth are a result factor of motivation factors. Dissatisfaction was a result of hygiene factors. Herzberg developed this motivation theory during his investigation of 200 accountants and engineers in the USA.

The two Factors in the Theory

• Hygiene factors are needed to ensure that an employee does not become dissatisfied. They do not cause higher levels of motivation, but without them there is dissatisfaction.
• Motivation factors are needed in order to motivate an employee into higher performance. These factors result from internal generators in employees.

Typical Hygiene Factors

• Working conditions

• Quality of supervision

• Salary

• Status

• Safety

• Company

• Job

• Company policies and administration

• Interpersonal relations

Typical Motivation Factors

• Achievement

• Recognition for achievement

• Responsibility for task

• Interesting job

• Advancement to higher level tasks

• Growth

Combining the hygiene and motivation factors results in four scenarios

• High Hygiene + High Motivation: The ideal situation where employees are highly motivated and have few complaints.

• High Hygiene + Low Motivation: Employees have few complaints but are not highly motivated. The job is perceived as a paycheck.

• Low Hygiene + High Motivation: Employees are motivated but have a lot of complaints. A situation where the job is exciting and challenging. However the salaries and work conditions are not OK.

• Low Hygiene + Low Motivation: The worst situation. Employees are not motivated and have lots of complaints.

Herzberg suggests that often work can be arranged and should be arranged in the following ways:

• job enlargement
• job rotation, and/or
• job enrichment.

Besides The Two Factor Theory, Frederick Herzberg is also known for his acronym KITA, which has been politely translated as a Kick In The Pants! Herzberg said that KITA does not produce motivation. But only movement.

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Best Practices The best, top-rated topics about the Two Factor Theory (Human Motivation). Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. 🥇 How to measure motivation? (How) Can motivation be measured?... 34   8 comments 🥈 Privacy at Work | Privacy in Offices When it comes to offices and office spaces, organizations are trying to find a balance between public and private workspace in order to encourage COLLABORATION. But public spaces are often criticized... 21   8 comments 🥉 PROs and CONs of Employee Of the Month Programs A common recommended and used form to increase employees’ motivation and performance is Employee-Of-the-Month (EOM). Such a strategy would boost morale through employee rewards and giving credits to e... 18   33 comments Motivation Engenders Commitment Adequately motivated staff are usually more committed to perform optimally. More often than not, they are happy on their beats which could be due to their being satisfied with the welfare, training a... 17   Nothing Flourishes Without Attention Nothing flourishes without attention. This simple phrase is endemic in all endeavors. A gardener knows all too well what would happen to his plants if they are not attended to.Take this phrase and a... 16   13 comments What motivates Employees to be more Innovative? In the current crisis, it's important to keep your innovation effort at a high level. Martha E. Mangelsdorf writes in MITSloan Management Review Vol 40 No 3 p. 24 about an analysis by Professors Henry... 15   13 comments Achieving a State of Flow and Motivation A "State of Flow", according to Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, is the ability to focus our psychic energy and attention on the performance of tasks of our choice in which each moment is enjoyed, moving us t... 15   Using Herzberg's Two Factor Theory in Small Companies How can you apply Herzberg 2 factor theory in a small company (5-10 employees)? Any experiences? Does anyone know of a simple set of tools?... 13   5 comments Role of Job Titles in Employee Motivation and Satisfaction Traditional purposes of job titles are standardization and benchmarking. They are sources and reflections of formality and rigidity or mechanisms of bureaucratic control. Over the past decade however,... 13   Strong Motivational Factors can Overcome Demotivating Factors Deeply felt internal motivational factors can overcome demotivating factors. Such positive internal motivational factors could be a strong belief of the cause, mission or a smart direction of the org... 12   1 comments What are (the Main) Causes of Attrition? The theory is pretty good, but I am of the view that the underlying reason for a big percentage of people who move on is the boss. Most of the time when an employee leaves his job it's due to the trea... 12   3 comments List of Intrinsic Motivators Intrinsic motivation (the wish to carry out an activity for the sake of the activity itself, and not in the hope of obtaining some form of external reward) addresses innate human desires, and promotes... 12   8 comments Avoid Under and over Motivation Under motivated as well as over motivated workers both have negative effects in productivity. A balance has to be developed in order for workers to act normally, never discouraged nor disgusted and ex... 11   2 comments Boredom Could be a Driver for Creativity and Performance Negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, depression, and boredom are believed to generate behavioural issues and declined performance at work. However, research by Park, Lim and Oh (2019) surprising... 10   4 comments

Expert Tips Advanced insights about the Two Factor Theory (Human Motivation). Here you will find professional advices by experts. Consultancy Tips Teaching Tips Practical Implementation Tips Drivers and Levers of Employees Improving Employee Motivation In their 2002 book "Driven: How Human Nature Shapes our Choices", Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria mention 4 drives und... Examples of Two Factor Model Teaching Two Factor Theory I would like to compare Herzberg's 2 factor model to a human body (organisation): - The disease-infected human body (un... Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction According to Herzberg Important Note I find it interesting that Herzberg separates dissatisfaction and satisfaction as whole different feelings apart from on... Promotion-focused versus Prevention-focused Employees Employee Motivation An interesting way to look at employees or coachees for motivation purposes is described by Heidi Grant Halverson and E... Alternate Classifications of Human Needs (Employees, Consumers) Motivation, Marketing, Human Needs One of possible ways to classify human (employee, consumer) needs is to break them down into: - Biogenic Needs (essenti... Differences in Organizational Commitment Between Paid Workers and Volunteers Organizational Commitment, Employee Motivation, Non-profit Organizations Paid and unpaid workers in hybrid organizations Although financial considerations are an important reason to work for a... Base your Workspace Design on Employee Interaction Workspace Design, Innovation Environment, Employee Interaction, Office Space Design Many innovative organizations of today have faith that more open spaces triggers personal interactions, performance, cre... Practical Tips to Increase the Performance of your Employees Employee Development, Employee Growth, Coaching by Managers, Mentoring, Career Management, Management Development The performance of an employee (or a team of them) depends on many factors. One of the main factors is how well the empl... How to Avoid Too Much Transparency and Allow Some Privacy Corporate Transparency, Employee Privacy In an article “The Transparency Trap” it is argued that although a certain level of transparency does drive out wastefu... Why Employees Stay: Contextual Factors Influencing Job Embeddedness Employee Retention, Attrition, Organizational Commitment, Employee Satisfaction Mitchell, Lee and Tyler (2014) focus on the contextual (or external) factors that influence employees’ staying, instead ... Family-Work Conflicts (FWC) and Daily Job Performance Family-work conflicts, Coaching, Mentoring, Job Performance FAMILY ROLES and WORK are two factors influencing each other: - Work can interfere with family roles; this is called a W...

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