Frederick Herzberg and Workplace Theory

Photo of Frederick Herzberg

Frederick Herzberg's work has had a lasting influence on workplace and human resource management. He was one of the humanist school of management thinkers, emphasizing the human aspects of organizations. Concepts such as job enrichment, self-development, and job satisfaction have evolved from his insight that motivation comes from within the individual, rather than from a policy imposed by the company. It has also influenced organizations' rewards and remuneration packages.

Employee Attitudes

Prior to Herzberg's work, the approach to employee-management issues gave employee's a  low priority in the dialogue. The opinions of employees were rarely sought or considered. Herzberg and other colleagues highlighted the importance of employee attitudes through a study of 203 Pittsburgh engineers and accountants. By asking them what they liked and disliked about their jobs, he lead the dialogue on what management needs to do to assist in motivating employees.

Motivation Factors

Herzberg's public health study of employee views on the work they perform and what made them happy or unhappy about work conditions lead to the examination of two distinct factors that he proposed lead to job satisfaction, namely the motivation factors and hygiene factors. Herzberg discovered that the factors that lead to dissatisfaction are completely different from those that provide satisfaction. Positive factors were described as motivation factors. These meet uniquely human needs and include achievement, personal development, job satisfaction, and recognition.

Hygiene Factors

Hygiene factors cover basic needs at work. They include working conditions, supervision levels, company policies, benefits, and job security. If these are poor or deteriorate, they lead to poor job attitudes and dissatisfaction with work. Conversely, improvement of hygiene factors remove the barriers to positive attitudes in the workplace. However, improvement in hygiene factors alone is not sufficient to provide true job satisfaction.

Reward Process

Herzberg concluded that organizations should aim to motivate people through job satisfaction, rather than reward or pressure. This led to the concept of job enrichment, which would enable organizations to liberate people from the tyranny of numbers and expand the creative role of an individual within the organization.

Reference: "The Motivation to Work"; Frederick Herzberg; 1959