What is the Two Factor Theory?

3 min readOct 14, 2019

This theory, also called the Motivation-Hygiene Theory or the dual-factor theory, was penned by Frederick Herzberg in 1959. This American psychologist, who was very interested in people’s motivation and job satisfaction, came up with the theory. He conducted his research by asking a group of people about their good and bad experiences at work. He was surprised that the group answered questions about their good experiences very differently from the ones about their bad experiences.

Based on this, he developed the theory that people’s job satisfaction depends on two kinds of factors. Factors for satisfaction (motivators/satisfiers) and factors for dissatisfaction (hygiene factors/ dissatisfiers).

Performance, recognition, job status, responsibility and opportunities for growth all fall under motivators/ satisfiers.

Hygiene factors/dissatisfiers are about salary, secondary working conditions, the relationship with colleagues, physical work place and the relationship between supervisor and employee.

In his theory, Herzberg claims these factors function on the same plane. In other words, satisfaction and dissatisfaction aren’t polar opposites. Taking away an employee’s dissatisfaction — for example by offering a higher salary — doesn’t necessarily mean the employee will then be satisfied. The employee is just no longer dissatisfied.

4 different combinations can exist at work:

1: High hygiene and high motivation

This is the ideal situation. Employees are very motivated and barely have any complaints.

2: High hygiene and low motivation

Employees have few complaints, but they’re not really motivated, they see their work simply as a pay check.

3: Low hygiene and high motivation

Employees are motivated, their job is challenging, but they have complaints about salary or work conditions.

4: Low hygiene and low motivation

This is the worst possible situation, employees are not motivated and have a lot of complaints.

Critique

The Two Factor Theory is widely used, but there are a few points issues with it. One issue is the fact that humans tend to look at the aspects of their work that they like and project them onto themselves when things are going well. When times are bad, external factors seem to play a larger part.

Another point of criticism is that the Two Factor Theory assumes that job satisfaction equals higher productivity. There are plenty of reasons to disagree, like external factors that might influence productivity. Herzberg didn’t take this into account while researching and coming up with his theory.

To summarise

The Two Factor Theory by Herzberg is a theory about motivation of employees. The Two Factor Theory assumes on the one hand, that employees can be dissatisfied with their jobs. This often has something to do with so-called hygiene factors, such as salary and work conditions. On the other hand, employees’ satisfaction has to do with so-called motivation factors. These factors have to do with development opportunities, responsibility and appreciation.

Herzberg claims these factors exist side by side. Taking away the dissatisfaction factors doesn’t necessarily mean employees will be satisfied. To motivate a team using motivation factors, the hygiene factors need to be taken care of first.