Frederick Herzberg's Theory And The Theories Of Motivation

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines motivation as ‘a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way’. Motivation seeks to explain the 'why' of behaviour (Gorman, 2004). Moreover, motivation is the internal process whereby a person moves towards a certain goal or outcome. At a simple level, it seems obvious that people must work in order to achieve something. People are often motivated by incentives, markedly money. However, it is imperative that we understand that motivation cannot be directly examined nor can it be directly measured. One can only observe someone’s behaviour and make assumptions based upon their actions. For this reason, it is difficult to make objective decisions with regard to what motivates people in general…show more content…
Frederick Herzberg’s Two Factor theory is a famous example of a content theory of motivation. Herzberg’s theory is often cited as one of the most significant content theories in job satisfaction. Largely influenced by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Herzberg’s theory takes on a two-pronged approach (unknown, 2017). At the heart of the theory is the difference between motivation factors and hygiene factors (Alshmemri, et al., 2017). Herzberg described motivation factors as intrinsic to the job and hygiene factors as extrinsic to the job (Alshmemri, et al., 2017). According to Herzberg’s Motivation-hygiene theory, satisfaction and dissatisfaction could not be reliably measured on the same continuum (Stello, 2011; Herzberg, 1959). Herzberg argued that there are “two distinct human needs portrayed” (unknown, 2002). Herzberg differentiates between motivators which satisfy the ‘need for growth or self-actualisation’, and Hygiene factors refer to ‘the need to avoid unpleasantness’ (Herzberg,…show more content…
who hypothesized that organisms develop cognitive expectancies regarding the outcomes of behaviour and consequently behave in a manner which is likely to result in preferred outcome states (Richard, 1974). Vroom asserts that employees are motivated to make choices among behaviours (Ugah, 2008; Vroom, 1964). Expectancy Theory provides a major conceptual framework for explaining work-related behaviour and can be applied to measure work motivation. (Reinharth & Wahba, 1975). It is a widely researched process theory of motivation. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is regarded as "perhaps the most widely accepted theory of work and motivation among today's industrial and organizational psychologists” (House & Wahba, 1972; Mitchell, 1974). The basic concept underlying the expectancy theory is determined by outcomes, which are a result of their actions on the job (Vroom, 1964; Pool & Pool,

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