Convenience

two-factor theory
of motivation
Suggests that
people’s satisfaction
and dissatisfaction
are influenced by two
independent sets of
factors—motivation
factors and hygiene
factors
Chapter 10:
Managing Employee Motivation and Performance
2 9 7
Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
www.MyEbookNiche.eCrater.com

---

factors alone will usually do just enough to get by. Thus, managers should proceed to
stage 2—giving employees the opportunity to experience motivation factors such as
achievement and recognition. The result is predicted to be a high level of satisfaction
and motivation. Herzberg also went a step further than most other theorists and
described exactly how to use the two-factor theory in the workplace. Specifically, he
recommended job enrichment, as discussed in Chapter 6. He argued that jobs should
be redesigned to provide higher levels of the motivation factors.
Although widely accepted by many managers, Herzberg’s two-factor theory is not
without its critics. One criticism is that the findings in Herzberg’s initial interviews
are subject to different explanations. Another charge is that his sample was not repre-
sentative of the general population and that subsequent research often failed to uphold
the theory
9
. At the present time, Herzberg’s theory is not held in high esteem by
researchers in the field. The theory has had a major impact on managers, however,
and has played a key role in increasing their awareness of motivation and its impor-
tance in the workplace.