Herzberg's two-factor theory

Frederick Herzberg offers another framework for understanding the motivational implications of
work environments.
In his twofactor theory, Herzberg identifies two sets of factors that impact motivation in the
workplace:

Hygiene factors include salary, job security, working conditions, organizational policies,
and technical quality of supervision. Although these factors do not motivate employees,
they can cause dissatisfaction if they are missing. Something as simple as adding music to
the office place or implementing a nosmoking policy can make people less dissatisfied
with these aspects of their work. However, these improvements in hygiene factors do not
necessarily increase satisfaction.

Satisfiers or motivators include such things as responsibility, achievement, growth

opportunities, and feelings of recognition, and are the key to job satisfaction and
motivation. For example, managers can find out what people really do in their jobs and
make improvements, thus increasing job satisfaction and performance.

Following Herzberg's twofactor theory, managers need to ensure that hygiene factors are
adequate and then build satisfiers into jobs.
Alderfer's ERG theory

Clayton Alderfer's ERG (Existence, Relatedness, Growth) theory is built upon Maslow's
hierarchy of needs theory. To begin his theory, Alderfer collapses Maslow's five levels of needs
into three categories.

Existence needs are desires for physiological and material wellbeing. (In terms of
Maslow's model, existence needs include physiological and safety needs)

Relatedness needs are desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships. (In terms of
Maslow's model, relatedness correspondence to social needs)

Growth needs are desires for continued psychological growth and development. (In
terms of Maslow's model, growth needs include esteem and selfrealization needs)
This approach proposes that unsatisfied needs motivate behavior, and that as lower level needs
are satisfied, they become less important. Higher level needs, though, become more important as
they are satisfied, and if these needs are not met, a person may move down the hierarchy, which
Alderfer calls the frustrationregression principle. What he means by this term is that an already
satisfied lower level need can become reactivated and influence behavior when a higher level
need cannot be satisfied. As a result, managers should provide opportunities for workers to
capitalize on the importance of higher level needs.
1 Autocratic Model

This model came about during the industrial revolution, in the 1800s and 1900s. It depends
on power The manager has the power to demand you do this or else and an employee
who does not follow orders is punished.
The manager has formal, official, authority over employees.
This model assumes that employees have to be directed and pushed into doing the work. In
this model, management does the thinking, employees obey orders and depend on the
manager. Employees are tightly controlled. The manager can hire, fire and perspire them.
Employees may obey managers but employees may not respect management.
Typically, employees receive minimum pay for minimum expected performance. Employees
may have lower skills. Often, employees work in the authority model because they have
to.to provide subsistence for themselves and their families.

2. Custodial Model
In the late 1800s, employers realized that employees might work better if their basic needs
more satisfied, if they were more secure and had a better quality of work life. This was
called paternalism - taking care of employees by providing them with benefits to meet their
security needs.
The custodial approach depends on economic resources money for wages and benefits to motivate employees. The company has to have enough money to cover these costs. By
the 1930s most employers were offering welfare programsfor example, housing, medical
care and insurance, fewer working hours sick pay, pensions and paid vacation time off.
The problem with the custodial model is that it leads to dependence on the organization by
the employee because of the security offered. Employees do not want to leave the
organization, not so much because they like the job, but because they like or depend on the
benefits that go with it. They cannot afford to quit.
In this model, employees may focus on economic rewards. They may be reasonable
content, but may not be highly motivated just passively cooperative.
Companies that adopt the custodial approach normally have a lower staff turnover.
However, employees do not produce their best work and are not motivated to grow to their
full potential. The custodial model is a good foundation for organizations to grow to the
next approach. ( Newstrom 35)

3. Supportive Model
The supportive model came from research done in the 1920s and 1930s. It depends on
leadership, not authority or money. Through leadership, managers provide a work situation
in which employees can develop.
The supportive model assumes that employees want to work and will take responsibility.
Employees are encouraged to be involved in the organization.
Employees are more strongly motivated because their status and recognition needs are
better met than with earlier models.
The supportive approach is not about money, but about the way people are treated at work.
A supportive manager helps employees solve problems and accomplish their work.
However, some managers may agree with the model but not actually practice it at work.
This model is followed widely, especially in the West, because it responds to employee
drives for complex needs. It is especially useful in production work places. Employees in
developing countries are aware of management practices around the world and are
demanding more modern approaches.

4. Collegial Model
This model began about 50 years ago. Collegial means people working together
cooperatively. In this model, management builds a feeling of partnership with employees.
The environment is open and people participate.
The collegial model is about team work. Managers are coaches to help build better teams.
Employees are responsible they feel obliged to others on the team to produce quality
work. Employees must be self-disciplined. Many employees feel satisfied that they are
making a worthwhile contribution. This leads to self actualization and moderate enthusiasm
in the way they perform.
The collegial model is especially useful for creative work, like marketing or
communications or in thinking environments, like education or planning. (Newstrom 38)
Communication is something we do all
the time, mostly without thinking
about it. In business,
though, thinking about it is very
important because all forms of
interaction between people and

companies are built and maintained

through some form of communication.
It is, therefore, vital that
communication is effective and the
messages between firms, their
customers, clients, and those

between workers in the same

organization especially between
management and staff are clear
and properly understood.
i. Information/message
This is the raw material of the
communication the actual data
which it is intended to convey to
the recipient or receiver. Although it is
usually called information, it does
not have to be
simply factual. It may be an opinion or
an idea, or a combination of fact and
opinion.
ii. The Sender
The sender is the body responsible for
passing on the information. Although it
is most usually an
individual, it can also be a group of
people, such as a committee or a
company.
iii. Encoding
This is the process by which the
sender puts the information into a
form suitable for sending.
Usually, this will be a language,
either spoken or written.
In some cases, such as non-verbal
communication or body language, it
could be a gesture
or sign.
In others, such as advertising, it
could be a photograph or film with an
accompanying slogan.
The way in which the information is
encoded is crucial to the correct
understanding of the
message by the recipient. Indeed, so
important is this that the key element
in encoding is
working out the best way for the
receiver to understand the information
and then putting it into
that form.

iv. The message

Once the information is encoded, it is
known as the message. It contains the
meaning that
the sender wishes to convey to the
receiver.
v. The medium
The medium is the larger group of
communication instruments within
which the message
belongs. Generally speaking, there are
three main media:
Written communication;
Oral (spoken) communication; and
Visual communication.
vi. The channel
This is the physical means by which
the message is communicated:
For written communication, a postal
service or a notice-board;
For oral communication, a personal
interview or a telephone system:
For visual communication, a
drawing, a photograph or film.
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3 Business communication 3.1 The
Process of Communication
vii. The aim
The aim is the main reason why the
act of communication has been
undertaken. There are
generally three chief aims:
To inform
This is the desire to supply factual
information, or an assessment or
judgment of the value of
an item or product.
To Influence
This is the desire to persuade the
recipient to adopt a particular idea or
possible course action.
To initiate Action

This is the desire to persuade the

recipient respond by performing a
particular task.
Within an organisation, all three aims
are often present as part of any
individual act of
communication. It is important to be
clear about the overall aim of the
communication because
this can affect the way the information
is encoded the media and channels
used to convey the
message.
viii. The recipient
This is the object to whom the
message is directed. It may be an
individual, a group (such as
committee or firm), or even as in the
case of an advertising campaign a
specific target group
among the general public.
ix. Decoding
This is the process by which the
recipient interprets the meaning of the
message. Note that this
may or may not be the same as the
interpretation originally intended by
the sender the result of
this process is what the recipient
understands the message to mean.

Some understanding of this part of the

process by the sender is very helpful
because it can
influence the way the information is
encoded and the media and channels
used to convey the
message.
x. Feedback
Feedback is the name given to the
information the sender derives from
the way in which the

recipient reacts to the message. From

it, the sender can decide whether or
not the message has
achieved its intended effect. However,
feedback properly refers only to
indirect reactions of the
recipient rather than any message
sent in return. It is thus up to the
sender to watch the
recipients response carefully, to look
out or scan for such reactions when
it is possible for
them to be directly observed, for
example in a personal interview.
xi. Motivation
Although it is not shown in the
diagram, motivation is a crucial
element in communication. It is
the urge or desire to achieve a
purpose, alter a given situation, or
B. Barriers to communication
Any system which involves the
exchange of information, especially
when the information is complex
and the distance over which it is
exchanged is large, has to overcome
many barriers. These may be
divided into two kinds, i.e. those that
are found within the sender and the
recipient, and result in part
from a difference in attitude or
experience between them; and those,
which result from outside
influences in the communication
process.
Barriers Caused by Sender and
Recipient
When you are thinking about these,
dont forget that they are only very
rarely created deliberately by
either party. More often they arise
from incomplete understanding of the
information, the situation,

or the vocabulary and attitudes of the

party.
i. Distortion
Distortion is a process which occurs
either at the stage of encoding or
decoding the message. It
comes about when the information is
put into form, which does not express
its true nature in a way
that the recipient can fully understand.
We all believe that language is shared
by everyone, and that we all use the
same words to express
ideas; but this is often far from true. I
am sure that, like me, you may have
succeeded, quite
unintentionally, in offending another
person by saying something, which
was taken the wrong way
or interpreted as an insult instead of a
compliment.Distortion in
communication can lead to incorrect
understanding of the message, or only
partial comprehension of its meaning
by the recipient.
Where the distortion arises at the
encoding stage, the sender is
responsible. This is by far the
most likely source of the problem,
since every effort must be made to
frame the message, in a
way in which the receiver can
understand.
Distortion at the decoding stage may
arise where the recipient is not paying
the necessary
attention interprets the message in a
way, which the sender could not have
anticipated. In such
cases, the failure to communicate is
the responsibility of the receiver.
It could be due to lack of
concentration in either party, or

perhaps even that the ideas are so

complex
than clear and a complete expression
of them is very hard to achieve. The
latter is often the case
when a specialist in a technical field
tries to address a non-specialist
audience: there isno common
language for discussing very
complicated ideas, and so the
communication fails. However, there
are
ways in which barriers at encoding
and decoding can be avoided, as a
later section will clear.
ii. Inadequate communication skills
Communication skills are the abilities
to send and receive messages clearly
and effectively, with no
possibility of misunderstanding. They
include the ability to express ideas
clearly in writing, in
language suitable to the intended
recipient and the intended purpose of
the communication. They
also include the ability to read not
only to read words on a page, but also
to interpret
7
3 Business communication 3.1 The
Process of Communication
signs and symbols of all kinds such
as body language, which are
presented in a communication
exchange. A major barrier to
communication is created when one or
the other party fails to
process the necessary communication
skills. Messages are incorrectly
encoded, or encoded in
the wrong medium: alternatively, they
may be misread and fail to have
intended effect.
iii. Lack of listening ability

The ability to listen is an essential

ability for all of us. Unless we have it
we are unable to
understand what is going on around
us, with potentially disastrous results.
In the study of
communication, however, it is even
more important to be able to listen.
The term is used to include the ability
to work out the way in which
somebody is responding to
an item of communication, with the
same meaning as the term to scan
for feedback.
Unless the sender can listen, he or
she will be unable to discover the real
response of the
recipient.
Unless the recipient can listen, he or
she will fail to grasp the true
significance of the
message.
This then, is another cause of
communication breakdown.
iv. Attitudes
All of us have certain attitudes
towards daily life, which have been
produced by our education,
environment and general experience.
If they are extreme, they are called
prejudices. Whatever their
form, they can distort our awareness
of messages in communications and
thus hamper the
communication process. Attitudes to
moral questions, and those induced by
different cultural wishes
to communicate effectively, therefore,
one must try to be aware of both his
or her own attitudes and
those of the intended recipient,
otherwise a further barrier may
appear.
v. Incorrect Information

As well as the more complex barriers

discussed above, there is one, which is
more straightforward,
but just as disruptive: the fact that the
information may simply be wrong. You
could argue that, if
incorrect information is successfully
transmitted, a successful
communication exchange has been
achieved. However, this is only a
short-term view, since the mistake will
probably be discovered,
and will have to be put right. This will
undermine the recipients trust in the
sender, and may create
a barrier in attitude, which can hold up
effective communication in later
exchanges.
vi. Other Barriers
There are three more general
elements, which can act as barriers to
communication.
Perceptual bias occurs where the
recipient has selective hearing and
selects what they want
to hear. This can result in the wrong
message being received. For example,
smokers may
see the warning message on cigarette
packets but the message may not be
transmitted
because a barrier is created which
enables smokers to select only
favourable messages about
smoking.
Information overload can occur if the
recipient of the message receives too
much
information, or information, which is
too technical. For example, if
customers are given too
8
3 Business communication 3.1 The
Process of Communication

 much technical information about a

product the result is that they will
probably not
remember or understand the key
message being communicated.
Barriers Caused by Outside Influences
(Noise)
Noise is the name given to the feature
of the setting in which the
communication takes place which
interfere with the accurate transfer of
information. In literal terms, it can be
physical noise, such as
heavy traffic, constantly ringing
telephones or people talking to you
while you are reading a letter. It
can also refer to other kinds of
interference such as poor telephone
connection or unreadable
photocopying.

The physical environment within which

a communication takes place can be
very significant,
depending on the circumstances. For
example, shops take a lot of trouble
over the right decoration
and lighting to ensure they make the
right impression on potential
customers and if they get it wrong,
it may affect sales. Similarly, the
surroundings in the doctors surgery
may affect the effectiveness
of communication between doctor and
patient. Think about the layout and
decoration of the
reception area to your workplace or
other firms offices how does it make
you feel even before any
form of communication with the
receptionist has begun?