The Motivation to Work

by Frederick Herzberg, Bernard Mausner, Barbara Bloch Snyderman

Quality work that fosters job satisfaction and health enjoys top priority in industry all over the world. This was not always so. Until recently analysis of job attitudes focused primarily on human relations problems within organizations. While American industry was trying to solve the unsolvable problem of avoiding interpersonal dissatisfaction, problems with the potential for solution, such as training and quality production, were ignored. When first published, 'The Motivation to Work' challenged the received wisdom by showing that worker fulfillment came from achievement and growth within the job itself. In his new introduction, Herzberg examines thirty years of motivational research in job-related areas. Based on workers' accounts of real events that have made them feel good or bad on the job, the findings of Herzberg and his colleagues have stimulated research and controversy that continue to the present day. The authors surprisingly found that while a poor work environment generated discontent, improved conditions seldom brought about improved attitudes. Instead, satisfaction came most often from factors intrinsic to achievements, job recognition, and work that was challenging, interesting, and responsible. The evidence marshaled by this volume called into question many previous assumptions about job satisfaction and worker motivation. Feelings about intrinsic and extrinsic factors could not be validly averaged on a single scale of measurement. Motivation and performance are not merely dependent upon environmental needs and external rewards. Frederick Herzberg and his staff based their motivation―hygiene theory on a variety of human needs and applied it to a strategy of job enrichment that has widely influenced motivation and job design strategies. 'Motivation to Work' is a landmark volume that is of enduring interest to sociologists, psychologists, labor studies specialists, and organization analysts.

Genres: Management, Leadership, Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Reference

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Nadya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well... it is a boring book and it represents only one research but I need to read parts of it for my own research...

[Scott Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic study from 1959 describes, better than everyone else why modern men work beyond economic subsistence. Because it focuses only on men, it’s limited in a gender-diverse workplace, but because it studies two diverse occupations – accountants and engineers – it remains fairly generalizable. It concludes that the main reason people dislike their workplace is mismanaged environmental factors. But it also concludes that managing environmental factors properly does not positively motivate people to work. Rather, the positive motivation comes from more intrinsic factors like the work itself, recognition, or personal growth. Nothing since 1959 has come to replace this treatise’s key insight.

Women’s motivations to work certainly deserve another comprehensive study. Even defining what “work” is in a feminine context deserves ample attention and discussion. That limitation aside, this exploration stands as the best academic explanation of the human factors behind keeping high-performing talent happy and motivating high performance in a team. Those just interested in the conclusions and not the study itself can skip to the third section.

To the authors, salary is a loaded concept in this space. It’s complicated because it can be both an intrinsic factor in terms of recognition and an environmental factor in terms of fairness with others. The authors encourage readers to interpret it in terms of its subjective affectations rather than as an “objective” good. While many in the business community treat money as the highest possible good, this study pushes us to look more deeply into money as a social construct – a viewpoint helpful to me.

Of note, the authors use the word “hygiene” to describe environmental factors in an unorthodox way that seems rooted in a 1950s concept of public health. To communicate with audiences 60-70 years from now, I’d definitely use a different term, like “environmental factors.” That badly chosen term also stands as a significant limitation of this study. Nonetheless, this study clearly answered many modern questions about the psychology of work. It should be viewed as compatible with – and a deepening of – Maslow’s famous “hierarchy of needs.”

Coaches, managers, and anyone else concerned with getting the most out of a team should read this work for guidance. Again, mixed teams or women-only teams might have limited import, but understanding these concepts is a key place to start. Differentiating separate causes of “highs” and “lows” helps to point to how to meld a team together to reach a particular aim. Writing 60+ years later, I suspect this book will enlighten readers in decades to come.

[Christina Kundu · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had to read this for my engineering management class, so this book was pretty much not something i would choose to read on my own accord. it’s insightful, but definitely a little bit outdated as it’s based on a study entirely of male employees, since the study was in the 1950s. further research should be done today reflecting a wider demographic for sure. however, based on the time it was published, it says a lot regarding factors of job satisfaction which management companies can learn from even today to improve employee satisfaction and mental health.

[Ayleen Mallea♡︎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

lo ley solo por la universidad y ademas aporta al challenge haha