The Motivation to Work

“The opposite of job satisfaction is the lack of job satisfaction, and not job dissatisfaction. The opposite of job dissatisfaction is an absence of dissatisfaction”

Frederick Herzberg is famous for his Motivation-Hygiene Theory which is published in his book The Motivation to Work in 1956. According to Herzberg there are 2 types of factors in motivation. There are factors which if present will increase motivation and enhance performance. Then there are those factors which if they are absent will decrease motivation and have unfavorable impact on performance. The first group of factors he calls motivating factors and the second group of factors he calls hygiene factors.

Hygiene factors promotes work satisfaction include a safe and clean environment, working conditions, supervision and money. They are normally related to work environment. It provides for basic needs, adequate security, a sense of belonging and comradeship. These are the basic physiology, security and belonging needs as stated in Maslow’s Theory of the Hierarchy Needs.

On the other hand, Motivating Factors includes a sense of achievement, advancement, job interest, recognition and responsibility. These factors are the true motivators.

Its important to have the Hygiene Factor provided first before the Motivators start to work. However, most managers, according to Herzberg, attempt to motivate through hygiene factors alone which is wrong and ineffective. His theory emphasizes that if you give someone more pay or a new title [hygiene factor] without extra responsibilities, it will stop him complaining about his job, but it will not motivate him to do more.

It is vital to provide your workforce with opportunities for responsibilities, achievement and personal growth because this is the same as enabling people to achieve their self actualization needs. Leaders with strong growth needs respond positively to enrich their jobs. Knowledge workers will respond more to sharing and creating organizational knowledge is they are motivated by high-order needs.

Empowerment is about enriching jobs, allowing individuals to achieve higher levels needs. With MiniWorkshopSeries, you can empower your managers and supervisors to train your workforce. They will be perceived as the leaders of the organization, and able to impart their industry knowledge and instill enthusiasm though-out the organization. The Leaders will at the same time, have the opportunity to practice their platform skills, thus improving on their public speaking and influencing skills.

Take this opportunity now and email us to find out how you can implement MiniWorkshopSeries in your organization.