Comparing and contrasting Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

and Herzbergs Two Factor (Hygiene and Motivation) Theories.

By: Ilukor Geresom, School of Hygiene-Mbale, Address: P.O Box 221, Mbale, Uganda, East Africa, E-mail:
Ilukor@rocketmail.com

Introduction

Motivation is a well recognized concept in Management and Leadership Practice of

Organisations. Motivation among employees in organisations is a key Managers function.
Motivation theories help managers to understand the best approaches to use to motivate
Employees.

Among the worlds most read, and discussed motivation theories are Abraham Maslows
Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Two Factor (Hygiene and Motivation) theories, the article
below attempts to compare and contrast the Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and
Herzbergs Two Factor (Hygiene and Motivation) theories.

Definition of Motivation

Motivation is a cardinal and yet complicated function that Managers must perform in
organisations for their survival and success. Motivation in organisations deals with the workers
behaviour towards work.

Daft R.L and Marcic. D (2001:410) defines motivation as the internal and external forces that
arouse enthusiasm, desire, purpose, and persistence to pursue a certain course of action. and
Mullins L.J (2005:479) also describes motivation as the direction and persistence of action. It is
concerned with why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why
they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period, and in the face of difficulties and
problems.

Motivation in employees can be based understood in terms of the source of forces/factors that
induce employees to produce results desired by the organization or, perhaps, by the manager.
These forces/factors can either be intrinsic (internal to employees) or extrinsic (external to the
employees) in nature, therefore motivation is categorised thus into two that is to say extrinsic
motivation and intrinsic motivation.

Both Mullins L.J (2005:498) and Daft R.L and Marcic. D (2001:410), both explain that extrinsic
motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and fringe benefits, security, promotion,
contract of service, the work environment and conditions of work. Such tangible rewards are
often determined at the organisational level and may be largely outside the control of individual
managers while intrinsic motivation is related to psychological rewards such as the opportunity
to use ones ability, a sense of challenge and achievement, receiving appreciation, positive

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Two Factor Theories |By: Ilukor Geresom; ilukor@rocketmail.com 1
recognition, and being treated in a caring and considerate manner. The psychological rewards are
those that that can usually be determined by the actions and behaviours of individual managers.

Motivation of workers when properly and efficiently performed by Managers will lead to
increased productivity, job satisfaction, creativity, innovativeness, increased outputs and
organisational growth. A manager should carefully and skillfully channel motivation effects
towards the accomplishment of organisational goals.

Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of needs and Herzbergs two factor (Hygiene and
Motivation) theories

Theory of the Hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow and the Herzbergs two factor theory
(Hygiene and Motivation) theory are both examples of motivational theories.

The theory of Hierarchy of needs was proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 and published in
1954 after analyzing research works in the areas of human motivation. Maslow proposed a
Hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings that is deficiency needs and growth needs. At
the level of deficiency needs, each lower need should be met before one moves to the next higher
level. Once each of these needs has to be satisfied, if at some future time a deficiency is detected,
the individual will act to remove the deficiency. The levels of needs include physiological needs;
safety needs, social needs or belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization (Huitt, W.,
2007).
The Two factors (Hygiene and motivation) theory was proposed by Fredrick Herzberg in 1959.
He postulated that there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there other job
factors that prevent dissatisfaction. The job factors that resulted in satisfaction are called
Motivating factors (or Motivators) and include responsibility, achievement, the work itself and
recognition while the Dissatisfying factors are called Hygiene factors and include; technical
supervision, Interpersonal relationship with peers, salary, working conditions and status. The
opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction and the opposite of dissatisfaction is no
dissatisfaction.(Management Study Guide, 2017).

Comparing and contrasting Maslows theory and Herzbergs theory

There are many distinguishing features between Maslows Hierarchy of theory and Herzbergs
Two factor theory. Akrani, G.(2011) has suggested the following as distinguishing features
between the two theories namely; meaning of the theory, basis of the theory, nature of theory,
applicability of the theories, descriptive or prescriptive, and motivators.

In relation to the meaning of these theories, Maslows theory is based on the concept of human
needs and as well as their satisfaction while Herzbergs theory is based on the use of motivators
which includes achievement, recognition and opportunity for growth. According to Kaur, A.
(2013); the rationale behind the Maslows theory of hierarchy of needs is based on the fact that
managers need to identify strategies that they will follow to make their employees or
subordinates become self-actualised since such employees are likely to work at their maximum

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Two Factor Theories |By: Ilukor Geresom; ilukor@rocketmail.com 2
creative potentials , on the other hand in Herzberg's theory , needs can only be met through a
two way paradigm (two factors) without a specific hierarchy , so this that the needs must be
fulfilled irrespective of their nature.

On the basis of these theories, Maslows theory is based on the hierarchy of human needs. He
identified five sets of human needs (on priority basis) and their satisfaction in motivating
employees while Herzberg refers to hygiene factors and motivating factors in his theory. Hygiene
factors are disatisfiers while motivating factors motivate the subordinate. In view of Maslows
theory, Nyameh, J. (2013) opines that identification of the employee needs and supporting them
to fulfill those needs is a paramount responsibility of Managers and organizations should create
an organizational culture with values and norms that human resource departments will follow
when planning operations for their organizations bearing in mind the employee relationship as a
key human resource area for strengthening. The Herzbergs two factor theory differentiates the
factors between intrinsic motivators and extrinsic motivators within the workplace and thus if an
employer or manager is trying to increase job satisfaction and ultimately job performance for an
employee or coworker, they need to address those factors that effect ones job satisfaction.
(Riley,S.2005)

Considering the nature of the theory, Maslows theory is the most popular and widely cited
theory of motivation and has wide applicability (Akrani, G. 2011). Maslow proposed the
Hierarchy of needs in 1943, receiving both positive and negative criticisms. The Hierarchy of
needs theory is easy to understand and implement owing to the fact the needs and their grouping
according to levels helps to explain the order for implementing of strategies to satisfy them. The
theory also points out an array of rewards that if followed can help organizations to fulfill their
human resources mandate in a more systematic manner. Maslows theory is further more suitable
and applicable to all types of organisations because it involves all forms of rewards which apply
to all employees. On the other side, Herzbergs theory discovered in 1959 is a modification of
Maslows theory of Motivation, the theorys concern is on the factors in a workplace that have
an influence of the level of performance of the employees, this theory recognizes the need to
separate what the job provides to the employees and what can motivate the employee, therefore
the theory is applicable in understanding motivation of career employees in organizations whose
interest is not financial rewards and other packages but for recognition, career advancement,
challenging tasks at work among others.

According to Akrani, G., (2011), Maslows theory is descriptive and simple in nature; it
identifies and defines all the needs that humans can have which Managers need to be aware of as
they make attempts to motivate the subordinates under their supervision. On the other hand,
Herzbergs theory is prescriptive nature that is to say it identifies some factors as lower level
(hygiene factors) and which do not require motivation and classifies others as higher order
(motivating factors) and being the only ones that require motivation.

In relation to Motivators, according to Maslows Hierarchy of needs theory, all needs can act as
motivators, with lower needs requiring to be satisfied first before successive higher order needs

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Two Factor Theories |By: Ilukor Geresom; ilukor@rocketmail.com 3
and these needs cover all aspects that affect the employee at work, thus the primary motivators
are physiological, safety, social , esteem and self actualization needs, while Herzberg in his dual
factor model , hygiene factors (lower levels) do not act as motivators, only higher order needs
(achievement, recognition ,challenging work) act as motivators.

The two theories have similarities and these include the following among others;

In the first case, these two theories that Maslows Hierarchy of needs and Frederick Herzbergs
two Factors were all propounded to explain how employees at work can motivated and further
how Managers can motivate their employees in a workplace, thus they both motivational
theories. Furthermore, both theories are categorized as content theories which are theoretical
perspectives which stress the need for the analysis of human needs and they also provide the
insight into the needs of people in organisations which can help managers understand how these
needs can be satisfied in a workplace (Daft R.L and Marcic. D. , 2001:412-413).

Secondly, both theories attest to the fact all employees have specific needs which management
should identify and meet, once these needs are met then there will be increased work
productivity and output. Both theories also emphasize that if the needs of the employees are not
identified then the result will be demotivation.

Both theories also believe that needs present in a person will influence human behaviour.
According to Daft R.L and Marcic. D (2001:413), the need for food, achievement or monetary
reward drive people to specific behaviors in attempt to fulfill those needs. Considering this
therefore managers need to understand the different needs of the employees and prepare
management systems that help them to meet these needs.

Lastly, another aspect about both theories is that they suggest specific issues that management
can do to help and support their employees become self-actualized. The two theories specify the
criteria as what motivates people; however, this not fully true since because of other factors like
cultures, social status; different people perceive needs differently. Furthermore, both theories also
suggest the difference in needs among human beings which implies that different things motivate
different people.

Conclusion

Both theorists, Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg made a significant contribution to the
knowledge of employee and workplace motivation as a key component of organizational
behaviour and management by incorporating the need theory into the work environment. It is
therefore important to recognize the fact many of the defining motivational strategies currently
used by Managers have a strong relationship with these theories. However, in terms of the
content, purpose and application, the two theories are different form one another.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Two Factor Theories |By: Ilukor Geresom; ilukor@rocketmail.com 4
References

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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Two Factor Theories |By: Ilukor Geresom; ilukor@rocketmail.com 5