TWO FACTOR THEORY – HERZBERG

There have never been any research without criticisms and Herzberg’s own therefore is not exceptional. Some researchers questioned Herzberg’s method of investigation, stating that no effort was made by Herzberg to measure the relationship between satisfaction and performance.

A study by R. House and L. Wigdor (1967), investigating Herzberg’s Dual factors theory of Job satisfaction and motivation could not replicate his findings, and it was concluded that his results may have been influenced by the method used to collect the information. Some claim that the two sets of

job factors uncovered by Herzberg are independent. Some individuals are motivated by salary, while others are not at all motivated by advancement opportunities. Some people even perceive advancement as something to avoid; for example, a rig engineer working off-shore receiving a daily allowance of N20, 000, may reject being promoted and called back to office to handle other assignments and to rely on his salary only.

Another criticism is that Herzberg based his theory of motivation on response of engineers and accountants, and therefore ought not generalize such result to non-professionals and less educated employees. This was the criticism generated from an empirical test of five (5) versions of the Two –Factor Theory of Job satisfaction by L. K. Waters and C. W. Waters (1972).

However, besides all the criticisms, Herzberg theory has  continued to thrive possibly because for the layman, it is easy to understand and seems to be based on real life situation, rather than academic abstraction, and partly because it fits in well with Maslow’s theory         (1954) and McGregor ( 1960) X and Y Theory.

Herzberg’s theory is also in line with a fundamental belief in the dignity of labour and the protestant ethic-that work is good in itself. It is Herzberg’s theory that forms the basis of the “Job Descriptive Index” (JDI), which measures satisfaction with five job facets: (i) work itself (ii) supervision (iii) pay (iv) promotion opportunity, and (v) co- workers.

More so, Herzberg has looked at and discussed motivation in terms that managers understand, without loading his discussion with professional jargons and terminologies such as those that managers usually gloss over and ignore. Experts do agree that the two-factor theory provides guidance for building motivators into job contents, an approach called job enrichment