Over the next fews days I will write down a summary of some ideas regarding motivation. Let’s start with the Two Factor Theory by Frederick Herzberg.

Herzberg wrote 1959 a book called “The Motivation to Work” with research colleagues Bernard Mausner and Barbara Snyderman. The book is a study on 200 Pittsburgh engineers and accountants. It looked at the factors that cause job satisfaction as well as the factors that cause dissatisfaction. Interestingly the authors found out that satisfaction and dissatisfaction should not be treated as opposites. The opposite of satisfaction is simply no satisfaction, not dissatisfaction. (The Stones were right) Where managers would believe that motivation requires rewards, the book points out that workers get motivated and thus feel rewarded through the responsibility they can get from their job and the connection to their work itself. The main idea in the theory is the division between two factors: Motivation factors that lead to satisfaction and Hygiene factors that if not fullfilled lead to dissatisfaction.
What people want from their jobs are Motivation Factors:

Challenging work

Exciting place to work

Varied work

Promotion chances
Hygiene factors are the base for the motivation factors. These need to be present, but will not cause higher job satisfaction. Salary is thus not a motivator but forms the basis for motivation factors to start. Hygiene factors are:

Status

Security

Salary

Personal life

Company policy

This idea of a hierarchy of motivation factors is further developed by Maslow, discussed tomorrow.