Herzberg's Theory Of Employee Motivation

Employee motivation is necessary as it increases their productivity and efficiency, thus increasing the overall organization output. Motivation of workers is affected by four drivers namely: the drive to acquire, bond, comprehend and defend. These drivers are made to work with the help of certain factors. The drive to acquire is fulfilled by an organization’s reward system while the drive to bond is affected by the organizational culture. On the other hand, the drive to comprehend is affected by the job design and the drive to defend is affected by resource allocation and the performance of management processes (Reinholt, Pedersen, & Foss, 2011). Employee loyalty is an essential aspect of every organization that aims to keep afloat in an ever-changing

Maslow’s theory divided employee needs into five levels namely; physiological, safety, social, ego and self-actualization levels. In his theory, Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied first before higher level needs (Parfyonova, 2010). Herzberg also came up with a theory that is referred to as Herzberg’s two-factor theory (Herzberg, 1959). This theory has two major factors: Hygiene factors are the extrinsic factors and the motivators are the intrinsic factors. The theory argues that extrinsic factors such as job security and compensation produce dissatisfaction while intrinsic factors such as need for recognition and achievement bring about job satisfaction (Nujjoo & Meyer, 2012). However, it has been highly criticized as being limited by its methodology; it was said that his link between satisfaction and productivity is only an assumption because no total measure of satisfaction was used. The argument states that though an individual may dislike certain aspects of his job, he may still find it acceptable. There are other approaches on motivation such as the Instinct theory as well as the Incentive theory of

Employee motivation is very important as it ensures the survival of the company. Motivated employees are more productive, and they are needed in every workplace. It is the work of the manager to ensure that employees are motivated within the context of the roles they perform in the company. Managers have to know the best and most effective ways of motivating employees since these days money is becoming less of a motivation. The need to appreciate and understand the human nature is a prerequisite to the creation of an effective employee motivation program in any