by Philip Lop

Created on: February 08, 2011   Last Updated: February 12, 2011

Frederick Herzberg was one of the most influential psychologists of the twentieth century. Herzberg's work made a significant impact on business management strategies throughout the period and he is most renowned for his studies into the factors that motivate employees in the workplace.

In 1959, Herzberg published the “Two Factor Theory” of job satisfaction, often referred to as “The Dual Structure Theory”. Herzberg closely examined the factors that are most likely to motivate employees and devised a strategy that business leaders could use.

What is the Dual Structure Theory

Herzberg's work theorized that employees were motivated by a number of different factors, but that generally these could be defined in one of two categories:

Motivator Factors

Motivator satisfaction largely comes from the way in which individuals are managed. Employees are motivated by individual or group achievements, recognition (from managers, peers or customers) and from the very work itself. They are also motivated by additional responsibility, by promotion and by opportunities for development, which enable them to grow within the role and the business. Motivator factors are driven by the behaviour of other people. That mainly includes managers and leaders but customers and colleagues have some influence too.

Hygiene Factors

Unlike the sound of the name, this is not about the cleanliness of the work environment. These factors relate to the conditions of employment that motivate individuals. Most obviously, that includes pay and benefits, but also includes cultural issues such as terms and conditions and company policy. This area also includes the level and nature of supervision, status (that is, how important the individual feels), job security and other working conditions. Interestingly, Herzberg also noted that an individual's personal life is directly related to workplace motivation.

By helping managers and leaders to understand these factors, Herzberg encouraged behaviours and policies that maintained a long-term view towards motivating employees. Within his studies, he noted some interesting dependancies between the two sets of factors.

How the two factors work together

Herzberg identified that some factors had no impact even when improved and could only possibly have a negative impact. Employees generally see hygiene factors as 'the norm' or even a right, and as such, even when these areas are good, the employees are generally not very satisfied. Conversely,

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