TWO FACTOR THEORY - HERZBERG

 We always do have believed that the antonym of 'SATISFACTION' is 'DISSATISFACTION', but psychologist Fredrick Herzberg introduced a different thought in his theory of Motivation. The opposite of 'Satisfaction' is 'NO SATISFACTION' and that to of 'Dissatisfaction' is 'NO DISSATISFACTION'.

The theories of Motivation of early and contemporary ones has shown more than one perspectives of interpreting the cause of an individual's motivation towards performing certain tasks. Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory has highlighted the 'Self-actualization', Alderfer's ERG theory has concentrated on the 'levels of needs', McClelland has focused on the type approach of need.

Herzberg's Two Factor Theory aimed at analyzing the contrasting view of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction. It is a theory that bridges up intrinsic factors to job satisfaction and links extrinsic factors to job dissatisfaction. This theory is also known as - 'Motivation - Hygiene Theory'.

By following critical incident technique, Herzberg did a detailed study on the data collected from several employees. He inferred from that, the factors reportedly responsible for job satisfaction are not engaged with dissatisfaction which lead him to reach the conclusion that:

a) INTRINSIC FACTORS like advancement in job, recognition, challenges related to the job role, achievement and the work itself are responsible for an individual's ultimate motivation towards his/her job. The content factors of the job work as the 'Motivators' and leads to 'Satisfaction' - and if they are not fulfilled there is 'No Satisfaction'.

b) EXTRINSIC FACTRORS or 'Hygiene factors' as mentioned by Herzberg are those peripheral ingredients, which by themselves though are unable to bring satisfaction but can save from 'dissatisfaction'. The 'job context' factors like salary, company policy, work team, working conditions are if fulfilled properly, the employee will be 'not dissatisfied'.

REFERENCES:

Pareek, U. N. (1988). Organizational behaviour processes. Rawat publications.

Robbins, S. P. (2010). Organizational behavior.