Herzberg’s Motivation Theory

Activities

1. Go home and interview someone who works full time. Ask them what motivates them to work hard. Write these down and see how they fit in with Herzberg’s motivation theory.
2. Damian is the Team Leader at an advertising firm. He is in charge of 10 people. Recently the General Manager has flagged concerns that the firm has been losing clients to its competitors and that some employees in Damian’s team may be terminated if things don’t turn around. Damian’s team think this is unfair as they design and create the ads and don’t chase clients. In fact over the past 24 months they have been responsible for many award winning advertisements without any recognition from the General Manager. As a result they have lost motivation to work for the firm.

In groups of 3-4, discuss some possible strategies that Damian or the General Manager could implement to improve the motivation of the employees.

Test Your Understanding

1. Describe Herzberg’s motivation theory (2 marks)
2. Compare Herzberg’s theory with Maslow’s theory (4 marks)
3. Explain how a manager could use Herzberg’s motivation theory to improve the motivation of its employees (3 marks)

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