Herzbergs Theory of Motivation and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs :: Papers Maslow Herzberg Essays Business

Herzbergs Theory of Motivation and Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsMentioned Tables Not include Among various behavioral theories long generally believed and embraced by American business are those of Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Maslow. Herzberg, a psychologist, proposed a theory about job factors that motivate employees. Maslow, a behavioral scientist and contemporary of Herzbergs, developed a theory about the rank and satisfaction of various human needs and how people pursue these needs. These theories are astray cited in the business literature. In the education profession, however, researchers in the 80s raised questions about the applicability of Maslows and Herzbergs theories to elementary and secondary school teachers Do educators, in fact, fit the profiles of the reasonable business employee? That is, do teachers (1) respond to the same motivators that Herzberg associated with employees in profit-making businesses and (2) have the same needs pattern s as those uncovered by Maslow in his studies of business employees? HERZBERGS THEORY OF MOTIVATORS AND hygiene FACTORS Herzberg (1959) constructed a two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting peoples attitudes about work. He concluded that such factors as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary are hygiene factors rather than motivators. According to the theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction. In contrast, he determined from the data that the motivators were elements that enriched a persons job he found five factors in particular that were strong determiners of job satisfaction achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and advancement. These motivators (satisfiers) were associated with long-term prescribed effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produc ed only short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its front level. In summary, satisfiers describe a persons family with what she or he does, many related to the tasks being performed. Dissatisfiers, on the other hand, have to do with a person relationship to the context or environment in which she or he performs the job.