HERZBERG TWO FACTOR THEORY AND MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Abraham Harold Maslow was a great professor in psychology at Brooklyn college during the1950’s he is the author of one of the most popular theory “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” this theory is a representation of human needs that is presented in a pyramid to show a ladder of needs that one cannot advance to another needs unless they have achieved their latter needs and this can be applied to human growth, psychology, education, business and the society.
He categorized that 1. Physiological or basic needs of people like food, shelter and clothing should be first met before the others because obviously this is our needs for survival 2. Safety needs will follow if our basic needs are met he theorized that people need personal security and health needs because they want to live their life to be protected from danger from threats or attack, abuse of people and many others 3. If they have felt their safety they would need belongingness and love because human have feelings and emotions that needs to fulfill just like any other animals even in our childhood being human people needs to belong to a family and their intimacy, friendship, encouragement and love. 4. Esteem needs is another human factors that human needs respect and recognition in an organization, in their family and the society. 5. Self Actualization needs is probably the last basic needs that human being needs to become more and more self sufficient and self worthy of what they want to achieve. This needs is an expression of ideals, talents, skills after they have found that they have met all their first four basic needs only then they can realized this needs.
In connection to business and management that pertains to employees, they need to realize these basic needs of their workers to fully achieve their potentials. If companies can evaluate the individual needs of their employees depending on their needs; it maybe higher salary or position or promotion, appreciation, environment or co- workers support, needs in their department. If this motivational factor and other needs are met only then they can easily adjust to change the atmosphere that has blocked their potentials so that their employees can grow and will advance to the later needs according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.
In another theory, Frederick Herzberg an American psychologist he called “The two factor theory” also know as motivation and hygiene theory. He then theorized that there are two factors that are consistently revealed that one can cause job satisfaction and the other is non-satisfaction. The first theory is Hygiene factors that concludes Maslow’s physiological, security needs that according to Herzberg must be met in organization including salary and wages and fringe benefits job security and good working environment is the basic needs of the workers that is almost equal to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in a corporate settings.
But according to Herzberg these needs may lead to job satisfaction in a short period of time. In other word it may only be the reason why people work because of what they have gain in the absence of some of this needs it may lead to no satisfaction at work that is why they perform strike and rally to get their basic needs. He calls this as an employee’s maintenance of work for survival. Another theory of Herzberg is Motivational factor to which according to him is different and higher than the hygiene factor. Motivational factor leads to job satisfaction to achieve efficiency in performance and he call this as an employee’s satisfier in this theory employees are focused much more than just basic needs or hygiene factor or physiological factor but what the employee needs is recognition at work, sense of achievement and growth that they have found the job rewarding and encouraging because of this things. Such lacking of these things, then their job may lead to non satisfaction at work.
Herzberg may be right in some employees but not necessarily that this two theory are right in the life of most employees because they can be satisfied even if they have not achieve much about their position on the job. The two theories they have presented is a model that may be true but only limited to employees but not in general consider the employees in third world country like miners in Africa. In addition Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs does not necessarily differ in the theory of Herzberg but it can be applied in most institution, people may not always thought about the hierarchy but it can come from various position of needs that is not equated to his theory of pyramid because one may need protection without love and others may found belongingness and love without security like most teachers in public school. Both of their theories are models that can be employed in the management and marketing function but the real situation in the workplace will be the one to dictate the reality as a basis of their decision and not necessarily the theory that they have emphasized.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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