Certain Job Factors As Motivators example essay topic

Abstract The study of the forces within the individual moving him towards executing a job has evolved enormously from the times when the individual craftsman shifted to the individual contributor within business organizations. Motivational theory originated from the challenges encountered by management to get their subordinates to carry out a particular job. This paper provides an explanation of the origins of Frederick Herzberg's Two-Factor motivational theory and a view of its application to modern industry. The results and conclusions of this paper reveal varied motivating factors among individuals; it also identifies improved communication, effective coordination and training as factors that enhance motivation among modern-day employees. Introduction For years, motivational theory has been getting increasing attention from employers around the world. The motivational theories that evolved ever since the work life of man started to move around the business organization have gone through enormous changes.

Different schools of thought have led to theories, some empirically proven, some just pure theories, trying to explain the factors that really move man to carry out a job. The evolution of these theories have moved from the days when it was thought that man is passive and needs to be guided to do what he is intended to do, to the more recent thought that man has needs and that he is moved to carry out a job to satisfy those needs. This paper will present Frederick Herzberg's Two-Factor theory, which is one of the theories that evolved from this last thought. Having evolved from Maslow's Need Theory, one of the earliest theories of this school of thought, Herzberg's theory has been greatly studied and applied on the modern work environment and has served as the base for other motivational theories. This paper will present a background of the evolution of this theory, its difficulties and modern day experiences which can be explained on the base of this theory. Background on Motivational Theory It has been argued that the weak aspects of Maslow's need theory are that his terms are vague and overlap one another and that the hierarchic division of needs is not a universal characteristic, as Maslow himself originally suggested.

Most studies conducted, testing Maslow's theory have not been very supportive. Maslow intended to support the universality of his theory suggesting that it may be applied cross-culturally. However, Maslow himself proposed many exceptions and modifications to his own theory, which has been pointed out as a contradiction to his original claim as to its universality. For example, Maslow proposed that the different categories of needs might shift and change over the lifetime of individuals so that the different levels of needs are related more to age and career status than to satisfaction of basic needs. Despite its criticism, it has been said that Maslow's theory, being intuitively attractive, early-developed and endorsed liberally, was converted into an icon of motivation theory, adopted by the practicing managers.

The recognition of the fact that needs do vary among individuals led to the development of other motivation theories. Some of the developed theories borrowed concepts from Maslow; some of them dropped questionable concepts from his theory and combined need theory with parts of other theories. Having evolved from Maslow's need theory, Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory is one of the many motivation theories that resulted out of the inability of the first to proof itself empirically. Herzberg's two-factor theory evolves from his beliefs that work factors; that is, all aspects surrounding our work environment, should be divided into two groups: (1) motivational factors, which he called satisfiers, and (2) hygiene factors, or dissatisfies.

The motivational factors are those aspects that make a job rewarding in itself. These factors are intrinsic because they are a direct result of the job itself within the individual. They refer to a person's perception of themselves having control over both environmental events and their own behavior. Examples of these factors are achievement, recognition, advancement, responsibility, work itself, and growth possibilities. The lack of motivators does not cause dissatisfaction, but rather de-motivation. The hygiene factors are those aspects of the job without which the individual can not fulfill his basic needs.

These factors are extrinsic because they do not originate from within the individual, but rather are provided to him directly or indirectly as part of his work environment. Examples of these factors are pay, status, job security, working conditions, company policies, quality of peer relations, and supervision. The lack of these hygiene factors does not cause de-motivation, but rather dissatisfaction. For example, research scientists or electronic technicians, or simply anyone with a high technical background is more likely to be motivated by the intrinsic qualities of their jobs than an assembly line operator.

While the first might be motivated by the possibility of making a discovery or the satisfaction of solving a complex problem, the latter is more likely to be motivated by extrinsic factors like a safe work environment, good pay, or good benefit plans. Difficulties of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory Herzberg's work has been criticized in many ways. The most serious criticism of his work concerns the interview method employed by him to conduct his research, as compared to other researchers who have tested his theory using other methods and who have obtained different results. Other theorists based on research and on logical analysis have argued it is sometimes difficult to classify certain job factors as motivators or as hygiene factors.

Motivational and hygiene factors vary from one individual to another, based on their familiar, ethnic or professional background. They also vary from one country to another because of the difference in culture, history, social and political situation. Several studies have been conducted to compare the motivational factors between workers of different cultures. One of such studies compared U.S. workers and Chinese workers.

It was found that U.S. workers are motivated by interesting work and appreciation for a job well done, whereas Chinese workers are motivated by good wages and good working conditions. Motivational and hygiene factors may even vary from one business organization to another since each one has its own organizational culture backed by policies and practices. Because of the diversity of the factors that motivate some individuals more than others, experts have argued that there is no such thing as an ideal job. A job is ideal only for the person who is motivated by what the job has to offer. The individual features of a job have an effect on a worker's motivation only to the extent that the worker wants or needs more of what the job has to offer. The difficulty in making the distinction of what is to be considered a motivating factor and what a hygiene factor relies on the fact that needs differ considerably among individuals and that they change over time.

Some individuals have a set of hygiene factors (needs) and another set of motivating factors at some point in time, but a completely different set of both at another point in time. The shifting of these factors and the diversity of individual characters on the jobsite complicate managers' motivational tasks enormously. Manager and Supervisor Responsibility in view of the Two-Factor Theory One of the vital tasks of a manager is to motivate his employees. It is assumed that managers and supervisors must 'do something' to get their subordinates to do their jobs with diligence and good attitude. The idea of motivating employees to do their job has come a long way since the early days of the industrial revolution.

The first motivation theories, or should we say styles, originated from the premise that the individual is a passive being and that he won't move unless he receives some incentives to do so. The motivational theory developed by Herzberg originates from the questioning of the validity of this statement. In reality, the majority of human beings have the need to do something by themselves, to seek some excitement in what they do..