Analysis of Hertzbergs Factor Theories - Assignment Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Hertzberg’s Factor Theories 2 Process of Improving the Performance of Team Members 5 Conclusion 7 Reference 8 Introduction Employees are the most important part of an organization. Certain companies also think that the employees of the company come first and then the customers. Employees are that part of the organization that provides effort and thereby the company becomes able to offer products to the customers. If an employee is not able to provide his full effort then it is ultimately the loss of the company, as the management has failed to utilize the full potential of the employee. If the employee productivity is at its highest level then the company would be beneficial after all. So every company should take care that every employee of the company is highly motivated so that they can provide their full effort. If an employee becomes demoralized then he can’t provide his 100% effort for the company as well as the employee can leave the organization, which is in turn the loss of the organization itself. Some researchers have stated some theories, following these principles the company management can make sure that the employees are well motivated. This report is an attempt to analyze the Hertzberg’s factor theories which influence the employees’ motivation positively and thereby suggesting some ways to improving the performance of the team members. Hertzberg’s Factor Theories Among the motivational theories presented by certain researchers the factor theories of Professor Frederick Herzberg is an important one. The motivation- hygiene theory of Herzberg was presented in three volumes. In the year 1959 it was first stated by Him. After that the theory was elaborated by him and at present the theory is applied by many organizations. The research about the motivation to work had two hypotheses. These are as follows The factors which are causing positive attitudes among the employees which affected their performance and the factors which are causing negative attitudes among the employees are different. The factors which affect the performance of the employees or personally differs for the job events which are extended over long term than the job events which are of short duration. From the research outcomes the factors which leading to job satisfaction and the factors which leading to job dissatisfaction are specified and thus it became the part of the theory. There are five factors of job satisfaction recognized by the researcher. These are the work of the employee (Is it challenging or not), the verbal recognition, the responsibility in the organization, the achievement and the promotion of the employee in the organization. If these five things are present in the organization then the basic needs of the employee will be satisfied and the employee would be able to produce an improved performance. On the other hand there are also certain factors which lead to the job dissatisfaction of the employees. These factors are the policy of the company and the practice of the administration, the working conditions, the interpersonal relations between the employees and especially with the supervisor, the technical quality of the supervisor, job security and remuneration. These factors are represented by Herzberg as the hygiene factors. Herzberg argued that when these hygiene factors are appropriately provided by the company management then the dissatisfaction of the employees is removed and performance of the employee get improved to a certain point. But providing only these factors don’t ensure the performance to the high level which is possible potentially. Regarding the human motivation Herzberg said that human being has two kinds of needs. One is the basic needs (life security, hunger, pain etc) and the other need is of psychological growth. Herzberg emphasized that there are need of motivators in the company as the employees who are the hygiene seekers are motivated only for a short term. They need external rewards constantly and the company needs to provide more and more hygiene factors for the employees to retain their motivation at the same level. That’s why Herzberg emphasized for the need of build the motivators in the company. Herzberg recommends that an organization should have two departments which will deal with the motivation in work. One of the departments will work on the hygiene matters and the other department will work with the motivators. The department which is dealing with the hygiene factor will ensure that the hygiene factors are properly maintained like the job security, interpersonal relations, and then the concerned persons would focus that what should be added that the motivator may be needed. The motivators work is job enlargement and the remedial work when an employee is performing poorly or the work is technologically obsolete. In the third presentation of the motivation-hygiene theory which was published in the year 1976 the emphasis was on job enrichment. The third presentation of Herzberg has extended the theory from certain aspects. For example in this extension the researcher has developed the typologies of the workers. As per Herzberg there are four types of workers. These are as follows The person with both that is hygiene and motivator fulfilment is not unhappy (Hygiene) and also very happy (motivation). The second category of person can has little fulfilment in the area of hygiene but fulfilment in the area of motivation. He is unhappy for the hygiene factors but happy for the motivator factors. A person can have the hygiene factors fulfilled but the motivator factors can be poor so the person is not unhappy but not also happy. The fourth kind of person is lacking of both that is of hygiene factors and the motivator factors. He is unhappy in his work place. In this extension of the research work of the year 1976 the researcher has also made the distinction in the motivator factors. He has argued that the factors like achievement and recognition has short term effect in the employees’ motivation but the factors like the responsibility in the work place, the work itself, the growth and the promotion in the work place have much effects in the motivation of the employees. For the job redesigning the factors which are discussed latter should be included by the company. Job enrichment means widen the range of the employees’ responsibility according to their skills and thereby a process to increase their motivation. Certain job enrichment approaches has been suggested by Herzberg. He suggested that the feedback of the employee’s performance should be in a non-evaluative manner. The employees should be given a chance of new learning for giving them the feel that they are growing psychologically. The employee should be given the opportunity to schedule their own work and meet the deadline; they can do it in their own way. If an employee finishes their tasks before the time they should be permitted by the top management that they can utilize their remaining time as they wish. Herzberg’s theory proved as a successful one when the companies have implemented this theory in their companies. AT & T and U.S. Air Force are two notable organizations who have implemented this theory and get success. In AT & T the quality of the customer service improved. The turnover rate of the employees and the absence rate of the employees decreased (Miner, 2005, p.63-67). This motivation- hygiene theory has been proved as a success and according to the researcher for motivating the employees the organization should implement this theory. Process of Improving the Performance of Team Members As the head of personnel the researcher has to ensure that the employees of the organization are highly motivated. For ensuring this he has to implement Herzberg’s motivation- hygiene theory in the organization. For improving the team members’ performance at first the researcher has to make it sure that the hygiene factors of the company are properly maintained. Some steps should be taken by the team management. The management have to follow the below mentioned steps. The company policies should be transparent and clear to all the employees and these should be standard with respect to the industry. The administrative practices of the organization should be transparent and these should be robust. The working conditions in the organization should be up to the mark. The management should provide assurance to the employees that their job is secure. They have hired the employees because they are fit for the organization. The technical quality of the supervisor should be up to the mark. There should be no chance of grievance of the employees against the technical quality of the supervisor. If there is problem with the supervisor then the team will not perform up to the mark, the team would not be as efficient what they should be. The interpersonal relations between the team members should be good. If the relation is good then they will help each other. A team is formed when all the members are working for one another; there is not only individual accountability of the members like a work group. When the interpersonal relation of the team members is not good then a team can’t be formed, it becomes a work group. The efficiency of the team members is greater than the efficiency of the members of the work group. So it should be ensured by the team management that the interpersonal relation of the team members should be good. Most importantly the relation between the supervisor and the team member should be good, otherwise the team leader would not be satisfied with the performance of the member and the member will also not be satisfied with the job. The remuneration of the employee should be up to the industry standard. The above mentioned factors are the hygiene factors according to Frederick Herzberg using which the performance of the employee can go to a certain level but not at the highest level. Ensuring about these hygiene factors the researcher should move forward to ensuring the motivation factors so that the employees would be able to use their potential to their highest level and in turn the organization also get benefited. The process to improve the motivation of the employees is as follows. The achievement of the employee should be recognized by the team management. Verbal recognition should be there. The team management should design the work as the employee fined his work as a challenging one. The responsibility of the employee should be like as he deserves. The promotion of the employee should be periodically. Deserving post should be given to an employee by the management. The researcher has to ensure that the all the employees have justified designation and responsibility in the company so that they don’t feel de motivated at all. Job enrichment process suggested by Herzberg also should be implemented by the organization, so that the employee is motivated to the highest level and can deliver the level best performance for the company. Conclusion Frederick Herzberg’s motivation- hygiene theory defines two different sets of factors for improving the motivation of the employees. The hygiene theory describes the factors because of which the employees would not be dissatisfied in their job and they can improve their performance up to a certain point. But this doesn’t ensure the performance to the high level which is possible potentially. There exist the factors of motivation. If the motivation factors suggested by Herzberg used properly then the efficiency level of the employees will be at the highest level. The hygiene factors suggested by Hertzberg are the basic needs of the employees which are the needs of the working condition, the remuneration and the interpersonal relations of the employees. These are the basic needs of the employees, absence of these in the work factors cause de motivation among the employees. The motivation factors for the employees as suggested by Herzberg are the factors which will keep the motivation of the employees at the highest level and the employee would perform his level best. Herzberg also suggested job enrichment process which can be implemented by increasing the responsibilities of the employee, use his own process in the work and thus finish the work on time in his own process. The motivational theory of Herzberg should be implemented by the organization where the researcher is the head of personnel also as it is proved successful in some well known companies of the world. Reference Miner, J. (2005). Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.y-ebooks.com/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&view=file&task=download&id=564%3Aorganizational-behavoir1&Itemid=70#page=77. [Accessed on: January 6, 2012]. 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