The Dual Factor Theory by Frederick Herzberg

This theory proposes measures to improve the degree of motivation of workers.

Since companies are made up of individuals, it is necessary the existence of a psychology of work and organizations that is responsible for studying the functioning of these within organizations.

Within this psychology of organizations, the psychologist Frederick Herzberg stood out, who was interested in the study of job satisfaction and created the well-known Theory of the dual factor. created the well-known Theory of the dual factor of Herzberg..

Who was Frederick Herzberg?

Frederick Herzberg (1923-2000) was an American psychologist who became one of the most renowned people in the world. one of the most reputable people in the field of management and business administration..

Thanks to his Dual Factor Theory and the implementation of job enrichment, he gained great recognition within the field of work and organizational psychology, a field in which proposals that lead to a more efficient management of human capital, as well as well-being in the company, are always welcome.

What is Herzberg's Dual Factor Theory?

Also known as Herzberg's Motivation and Hygiene TheoryHerzberg's dual factor theory hypothesizes about the factors that produce satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the worker and how he/she meets his/her labor needs.

The basis of the theory is that the elements that cause job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the worker are of totally different natures. The theory is also rooted in the idea that the person has two types of needs: the need to avoid Pain or events that cause discomfort and, on the other hand, the need or desire to progress and mature both emotionally and intellectually.

When this system of needs is applied to the work environment, they require different incentives, hence the term duality. This duality consists of two types of factors that operate in work motivation: Hygienic factors and motivational factors.. Both help to explain a large part of the work dynamics that take place within organizations.

Herzberg's two factors

As mentioned above, the theory proposed by Herzberg consists of two factors that modulate worker motivation. that modulate worker motivation.

Hygiene factors

Hygiene factors encompass those factors extrinsic to the worker and are mainly associated with job dissatisfaction.

Hygiene factors are located in the environment surrounding the worker and include the conditions that determine the work performed by the worker. These factors are said to be extrinsic because they depend on the company's decisions and the way it manages them.

According to Herzberg, throughout history the people in charge of directing and managing companies only took into account hygiene factors as a means of motivating or punishing the worker. Companies and industries used wage rewards and incentives, flexible company policies and external rewards with the ultimate goal of getting workers to produce more.

The factors that Herzberg categorized as hygienic are:

• Salary and other economic incentives or material
• Company and organizational policies
• Affinity ties with co-workers
• Physical context in which the worker performs his or her duties
• Surveillance and supervision of the worker
• Status or position occupied by the worker within the company
• Job stability

However, Herzberg's research concluded that these factors were only useful for reducing or avoiding worker dissatisfaction, but not for generating genuine job satisfaction. not to generate genuine satisfaction with their work.. In addition, when the worker considered that these factors were not sufficiently excellent or appropriate, they generated dissatisfaction very quickly.

Motivational factors

Unlike hygiene factors, motivational factors are intrinsic to the worker, since they are directly associated with satisfaction with both the position and the nature or type of tasks that the person performs within the company. the person performs within the company.

These motivational factors would be under the domain of the individual, and include the feelings or perception that the worker has about his or her growth and development within the company, as well as professional recognition, the desire for self-fulfillment and the need for responsibility, etc.

For a long time, jobs were created with the intention of meeting the needs of efficiency, but for a long time, jobs were created with the intention of meeting the needs of efficiency. the intention of covering the efficiency and economic needs of the company, eliminating any possibility of the employeeThis eliminated any possibility for the worker to feel motivated to grow or to develop his or her creativity at work, causing a feeling of indifference and reluctance.

These intrinsic motivational factors are:

• Stimulating faculty of work
• Feelings of self-fulfillment
• Achievements
• Recognition by superiors
• Possibility of increasing responsibilities

Conclusions

After identifying all these factors Herzberg drew a series of conclusions that completed his theory:

• A bad environment leads to immediate dissatisfaction but a healthy work environment does not guarantee employee satisfaction.
• Avoiding job dissatisfaction is just as important as promoting job satisfaction. promoting job satisfaction.
• Hygiene factors and motivational factors are activated and deactivated independently, and the same person may have characteristics of both factors.
• Hygiene factors are all equally relevant.
• The improvement and development of the hygiene factors has positive effects in the short term.
• Hygiene factors are temporary and cyclical. Therefore, the worker renews these needs as time goes by.

Task enrichment according to this psychologist

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Frederick Herzberg also gained his popularity within work psychology thanks to the introduction of task enrichment. Herzberg himself elaborated a series of tips to improve worker satisfaction.

These tips are:

• Abolish or Abolish or eliminate certain controls while maintaining the worker's responsibility over his or her own task.
• Increase the number of responsibilities that fall on each worker.
• Less authority from the top of the company and more freedom for workers.
• Feedback on the results and objectives of each worker. of each worker.
• Assignment and distribution of new and different tasks, increasing their degree of complexity.
• Assignment of tasks that allow the employee to demonstrate to demonstrate their skills and progress professionally.