Application of Herzberg’s two –factor Theory in the IT Industry

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory discusses about the either factors that lead employees of an organization towards job satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Dartey-Baah & Amoako, 2011) it consists of both the hygiene as well as motivator factors. Motivator factor increases job satisfaction while improving the hygiene factors may decrease the chance of employees being dissatisfied about their jobs (Ball, 2003).

In according to (Ball, 2003) job satisfaction can be increase by follows,

 

§  Providing enough authority to work itself

Each employee should have enough freedom to work by him/herself.

§  Sense of personal growth

Employees should feel that he/she has enough space for growth within the
organization.

§  The employees should feel a sense of achievement

The feeling, which appreciates the contribution of each employee and his/her role in the great achievement.

§  Providing opportunities for advancement

Employees who perform well should be promote to the next level.

§  The level of responsibility

Each employee should have a clear understanding about his/her responsibilities in order to avoid deviances.

§  The sense of recognition by management and collogues

This can be through the proper identification of a particular employee’s role, which has caused in increased performance. Recognition is the responsibility of the supervisors and the management and should be identified and captured properly in providing recognition to the employees.


According to (Ball, 2003) hygiene factors help in decreasing the job dissatisfaction as mentioned below,


§  Supportive supervisor

§  Favorable working conditions

§  Favorable policies and rules

§  Job Security

§  Base wage and salaries according to the industry standards

§  Increased coworker relations

Figure 1 Different views between traditional motivation and Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Research report by (Chu & Kuo, 2015), explains how that Hygiene and Motivation factors work on an employee with different state transitions, from Dissatisfied to Not Dissatisfied and Satisfied to not satisfied. As an example, an employee will get motivated and will be in a satisfied mindset when he is presented with challenging meaningful work where his achievements are well recognized. He will be not satisfied when the work is monotonous, and no proper recognition is in place. At the same time, the same employee can be dissatisfied when he is underpaid working in an environment with lack of facilities and hindered by strict organizational policies. However, providing a good environment to work in will only result in not dissatisfied employees but will not guarantee satisfied employees.


Applying the theory to the organization which I work for

The Company, which I work for, is global enterprise Software Company providing software development, IT consulting services, enterprise solutions, web applications development, re-engineering solutions and ready-to-deploy business applications for a number of industries including e- commerce, banking and finance, Telecommunication and outsourcing services. The current facilities provided by the company are as follows.

 

Motivation Factors

 

§  Employees get extra amount of money or incentive for their achievement and receive good appreciation on the result at end of every year.

§  Employees can work under good working environment at the office OR can work from home that employee feel interested while working.

§  Organization held recognition program to motivate employees such as award ceremony day.

§  HR department implement various TechChat trainings to improve employees skill

§ Organization has given different responsibilities based on employee’s job role and considering qualifications and interest.

§  Each employee get chance to promote for their achievement.

 

Hygiene Factors

 

§  Employees have good relationship with superiors and management.

§  Organization has provided good working condition and facilities such as food, beverages and transport at night when employee work at office.

§  Organization has introduced new policies and administration system employees to carry out their work effectively further, flexible working hours and extra leave entitlement are the new benefits that they have introduced.

§  Dependent also get free medical coverage, gifts for their children and more benefit there for, employees can balance personal life without interruption.

§  Employees can work up until age 55 and they get same benefits idea that, organization wants them to feel a job security.

§  Employees get good salary and bonus for their workload.

 

References

Ball, J., 2003. Understanding Herzberg's Motivation Theory, s.l.: s.n.

Chu H & Kuo T, 2015. Testing Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory in Educational Settings in Taiwan. The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning, Volume Vol 11, p. 12.

Dartey-Baah .K & Amoako G K, 2011. Application of Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory in assessing and understanding employee motivation at work: a Ghanaian Perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, Vol 3(No 9).

 



Comments

  1. Agreed Amila. In addition to the above, This theory shows that humans do not make an effort to meet the lower-level needs but prevent them from becoming dissatisfied (Kian, 2013). In order to motivate employees, management must focus on providing high-level requirements. Motivation factors such as recognition, achievement, responsibility, growth, opportunities and promotion make high motivation and high satisfaction further; hygiene factors include salary, Working Conditions, Job Security, personal life, Company policies, and administration create general satisfaction (Kim, 2006). Herzberg says the best way to motivate the employees is to give challenging work to take responsibility (Leach and Westbrook, 2000).

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    1. Agreed with you Nirmika, adding more to your comment, research report by (Chu & Kuo, 2015), explains how that Hygiene and Motivation factors work on an employee with different state transitions, from Dissatisfied to Not Dissatisfied and satisfied to not satisfied.

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  2. Hi amila, agree with you adding to your points, full supply of Hygiene Factors is not necessary result in employees job satisfaction. to increase employees performance and productivity, Motivation factors must be addressed (Wan et al, 2013)

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    1. Partially agreed with you Dineth. research report by (Chu & Kuo, 2015), explains how that Hygiene and Motivation factors work on an employee with different state transitions, from Dissatisfied to Not Dissatisfied and satisfied to not satisfied.

      Delete
  3. Good post Amila. According to Robbins (2009) Intrinsic factors, as opposed to extrinsic factors, are the actual variables that contribute to employees' levels of job satisfaction. It is generally recognized as job content factors, which strive to offer employees with meaningful work that allows them to genuinely fulfill themselves through their work outcomes, tasks allocated, experience learned, and achievements collected. Intrinsic factors are particularly effective in developing and maintaining greater long-term beneficial effects on employees' job performance since they are human basic demands for psychological growth (Yusoff et al, 2013).

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  4. Hi Amila, well written article and adding to that according to Spector (1997), based on people liking or disliking their jobs are defined as job satisfaction whereas has a positive influence in employee commitment and organizational performance (levy, 2003) and has a negative influence on non-appearance and turnover intentions (Yousef, 2000).

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    1. agreed with you lakshan, If the management able to understand and control employee behavior further, understand what really motivate employees increase their work efficiency and finally achieve organization objects (Dobre,2013).

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  6. Maslow's theory of motivation states that the lower needs on the proposed pyramid must be met before the higher needs can be met; this idea is similar to that of motivational and hygiene factors in that hygiene factors must be present in order for motivational factors to emerge, preventing job dissatisfaction (Maslow, 1954, Maslow, 1954). As a result, the motivators in Herzberg's theory are similar to Maslow's intrinsic factors (higher needs). Maslow's extrinsic factors are similar to Herzberg's two-factor theory's hygiene factors (dissatisfiers).

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  7. Hi Amila. Agree with the points you’ve mentioned. Saraswathi (2011) mentions that the setting of Herzberg’s theory clearly explained employees’ motivation will only follow by satisfaction in Motivators that have Personal Characteristic factors within, whereas satisfaction in Hygiene factor that found similar with Environmental factors will only prevent them from dissatisfaction.

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    1. Thank for the comment Gihan. Managers are responsible for creating an environment that allows employees to reach their maximum potential. Failure to create such an environment might raise employee dissatisfaction, leading to reduced performance, lower job satisfaction, and increasing departure from the company (Kovach, 1995).

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  8. Hi Amila. Agree with you. Employers make the most of these hygiene factors to create a work environment that makes it apply for employees to work. Employees will be free of unpleasant external working conditions that will banish their feelings of dissatisfaction when all of these external factors are met, but they will remain neutral in terms of satisfaction and motivation; however, when employers fail to meet employees' hygiene factors needs, employees' job dissatisfaction will originate (Weerasinghe, 2017).

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    1. Than for your comment Indika, according to Herzberg, motivating factors are primarily intrinsic job elements that lead to satisfaction. Hygiene factors are extrinsic elements of the work environment (Manolopoulos, 2008).

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  9. Well Explained Amila, this theory further proposed the intrinsic and extrinsic Factors are interdependence to each other, also presence of extrinsic factors will only eliminate employees’ work dissatisfaction; however, it will not provide job satisfaction. On the other hand, sufficient supply in intrinsic Factor will cultivate employees’ inner growth and development that will lead to a higher productivity and performance (Wan F., Tan S. and Mohammad T. 2013)

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    1. Agreed with you. Herzberg's two factor theory can be utilized as an important tool in HRM. However, Basset-Jones and Lloyd (2005) states that despite the common view, the reputation of one's in an organization and the financial benefits might be second to the intrinsic feelings' accomplishment.

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  10. Hi Amila, agreeing with your points , would like to highlight what Armstrong explained on this module.Herzberg's two factor model, It was attacked. The research method has been criticized because no attempt was made to measure the relationship between satisfaction and performance. It has been suggested that the two factor nature of the theory is an unavoidable results of the questioning method used by the interviewers. It has also been suggested that wide and unwarranted inferences have been drawn from small and specialized samples and that there is no evidence to suggest that the satisfiers do improve productivity(Arsmtrong,2006)

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