Relying on an extensive amount of research, some reasonably well-supported pre-
dictions can be made based on the relationship of these needs to job performance.
First, individuals with a high need to achieve prefer and will be motivated by job situ-
ations with personal responsibility, feedback, and an intermediate degree of risk. Second,
people with a high achievement need are interested in how well they do personally
and not in influencing others to do well. Thus, they may not make good managers.^17
Third, the best managers are high in their need for power and low in their need for
affiliation.^18
Motivation-Hygiene Theory
The motivation-hygiene theory was proposed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg.^19
Herzberg investigated the question “What do people want from their jobs?” in an effort
to determine what might lead to a person’s success or failure at work.
He found that intrinsic factors—such as achievement, recognition, the work itself,
responsibility, advancement, and growth—seem to be related to job satisfaction. Herzberg
also found that there were characteristics that led to job dissatisfaction. The factors that
caused dissatisfaction were extrinsic—such as company policy and administration,
supervision, interpersonal relations, and working conditions.
Herzberg’s research led him to conclude that the opposite of satisfaction is not dis-
satisfaction, as was traditionally believed. Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a
job does not necessarily make the job satisfying. As illustrated in Exhibit 4-2, Herzberg
proposes a dual continuum: the opposite of “Satisfaction” is “No Satisfaction,” and
the opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction.”
Herzberg explained that the factors leading to job satisfaction were motivatorsthat
are separate and distinct from the hygiene factorsthat lead to job dissatisfaction. Thus man-
agers who try to get rid of factors that create job dissatisfaction can create more pleas-
ant workplaces, but not necessarily more motivated ones. Hygiene factors include
company policy and administration, supervision, interpersonal relations, working con-
ditions, and salary. When these factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied;
however, neither will they be satisfied. Motivating factors include achievement, recog-
nition, the work itself, responsibility, and growth. These are the characteristics that peo-
ple find intrinsically rewarding or motivating.
Chapter 4Motivating Self and Others 111Frederick Herzberg
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/
herzberg.htmlDissatisfaction SatisfactionTraditional viewDissatisfaction No DissatisfactionHerzberg's viewNo Satisfaction SatisfactionMotivatorsHygiene FactorsEXHIBIT 4-2 Contrasting Views of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction