Frederick Herzberg had a slightly different perspective on job

Frederick Herzberg had a slightly different perspective on job satisfaction and motivation
– he emphasized the „wanting‟ nature of man and believed that even if all man‟s needs
were satisfied, man would soon start taking them for granted and become dissatisfied
again! Herzberg called this „hygiene factors.‟ Hygiene keeps you safe from disease – but
it cannot by itself give you „good health.‟ Similarly, pay and other benefits are necessary
to prevent employees from being dissatisfied, but do not tend to offer long-term positive
motivation. He suggested a set of other „motivators‟:
 Status
 Advancement
 Gaining recognition
 Being given responsibility
 Challenging work
 Achievement
 Growth in the job
Pay and participation as motivators. Is pay only a „hygiene‟ factor? It directly affects
man‟s livelihood, and the satisfaction of most of the other needs is usually in direct
proportion to his income. It is generally agreed that there is a clear, short-term and direct
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link between extra effort, results and higher pay (salesmen paid on a commission basis –
a clear example of this principle in practice).
Participation contributes a lot to job satisfaction. It gives people a sense of identity,
responsibility and belonging.
Contingency approach to motivation looks at motivation in context, depending on the
interplay of a multitude of factors over time.