Commonly known as the two-factor theory, the Herzberg two-factor model illustrates that are two indispensable factors within any organization that influence its levels of motivation amongst the employees. These factors are motivators and hygiene factors. The motivators are ones that self-motivates each individual to leave no stone unturned to achieve the company’s goals. The other is the hygiene factors, these won’t motivate people to work harder, but if overlooked by the organization can demotivate the employees.

What is the Herzberg Two Factor Theory?

This is one of the few theories that uncover the secrets of motivation in the office. This theory is easy to implement by small, medium-sized to big enterprises to ensure the best performance from each department in the organization. As mentioned earlier, the two-factors identified as motivators and hygiene factors.

Motivators

The presence of motivators at the workplace encourages the employees to give their best shot for the company with a positive mindset. These are generally found within the job itself.

Hygiene Factors

If the company is paying no emphasis on the hygiene factors, the employees will feel that the organization doesn’t value them, thereby, often gets demotivated and this ultimately shows in the daily work productivity. These factors are not within the job but surround each individual.

As per the two-factor theory, the motivators are essential for achieving employee satisfaction, while the hygiene factors for satisfaction.

The motivators are further subdivided into achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, growth, and advancement. All these factors are pretty fundamental and hassle-free to implement. Give your employees a sense of achievement, recognize their hard work, the job itself needs to be interesting and not dull, also you must motivate each individual to take up the responsibility. And, as an employer, promotion and the opportunities to learn new skills are your two biggest weapons to keep your employees motivated to work harder than ever.

Now, coming to the subdivisions of the hygiene factors. These include company policies, supervision, relationships, work conditions, salary, status, and security. As an employer you need to formulate an organizational policy that favors the employees, it must be simple and clear for all to understand. Next is the supervision, this has to be unbiased and appreciate to deter workplace demotivation within the organization.

A healthy relationship must exist between the employees and senior managers, with no room for bullying. Another critical factor associated with workplace motivation is the working environment needs to be hygiene. The pay structure has to be fair reasonable, add to that, the organization must take care to maintain the status of each employee within the organization.

Conclusion

What are your views about the Herzberg Two Factor Theory, we would love to hear from you in the comment section of this blog post!