Frederick Herzberg: biography of this organizational psychologist

The figure of Frederick Herzberg is widely known in social psychology and, especially, that of organizations, since that his innovative theory on motivation and hygiene has served to improve the conditions of employees in the workplace job.

As has happened with many famous psychologists, Herzberg not only dedicated himself to research but also taught classes, training other psychologists aware of the importance of mental health and well-being in motivation labor.

Next we will see the life of this American psychologist through a biography of Frederick Herzberg, we will delve into his theory on motivation and hygiene and we will comment on some other findings that, in his time, became truly innovative.

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Brief biography of Frederick Herzberg

Frederick Herzberg was an American psychologist, famous for being one of the first to study motivation in the workplace.

His main contribution to social psychology and organizations was the theory of factors, exposed in several of his publications and being, to this day, highly taken into account in the field labor. He was also among the first to use semi-structured surveys to collect more extensive and precise data, rather than limiting himself to batteries of yes/no answerable questions.

The life of this psychologist begins in Massachusetts, takes place in New York and ends in Utah, having a productive and recognized professional career. His works have contributed considerably in taking into account the psychological well-being of workers, aspects more important than their productivity, salary and number of hours worked.

Early years and professional training

Frederick Irving Herzberg was born on April 18, 1923 in Lynn, Massachusetts., being the son of Gertrude Irving and Lewis Herzberg, a couple of immigrants from Lithuania. He spent his childhood and early adolescence in Massachusetts, although afterward his life would change and he would move to a place more suitable for his academic development.

At just 13 years old, he left home to go to New York, looking for better opportunities.. There he stood out for his great intellectual abilities, allowing him to win the New York Regents Examination Board scholarship at the age of 16 and to study at the famous City College of New York. In that center he would begin his studies in History and Psychology.

After the Second World War in which he had to participate, he was honorably discharged, rejoining civilian life and taking advantage of a war veteran scholarship. Thus he was able to enjoy more time with his wife Shirley Bedell, whom he had married in 1944. At that time he returned to the City College of New York to complete his studies, graduating in 1946 and obtaining a master's degree in Psychology. Two years later he would obtain a doctorate in that same discipline and a master's degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh.

professional beginnings

In the 1950s, after a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Psychological Help Service, joined the Research and Projects Section of the US Public Health Service. In 1956 he would join Case Western Reserve University, acting as director of the Department of Psychology.

While at that institution he would work as a professor, specializing in the area of ​​business management. He would also have the opportunity and the will to create a department of mental health in the company. Thus, he could further investigate how motivation and satisfaction are important factors in the performance and well-being of workers.

Elaboration of the theory of motivation and hygiene

Herzberg's first notable work was his book The motivation to work (1967), where he exposes his discoveries made in collaboration with Bernard Mausner and Barbara Bloch Snyderman when he was doing research on motivation in the workplace.

His first investigation consisted of evaluating 200 engineers and accountants from the city of Pittsburgh, collecting very sophisticated and precise data that would lead him to propose his theory of motivation that he would describe in his book, a theory which is still widely used today.

It is worth noting the research method used by Herzberg, innovative for its time. This was based on the use of open questions, without any preconceived ideas about what the respondents could answer. Until then, it was normal to conduct surveys using batteries of closed questions, of the “yes” and “no” style, not allowing the respondent to elaborate on his opinions or how he felt.

After publishing his first book, in which he expounded the principles of motivation theory and hygiene, Frederick Herzberg was expanding it in later works, being remarkable Work and the nature of man (1966)

One of the most important figures in the field of business administration, George Odiorne, invited Herzberg in 1972 to join the University of Utah School of Business.

This fame would materialize when in 1994 the institution would create the Frederick I Chair in his honor.. Herzberg Award for Visiting Professors and, a year later, he would honor him by designating him “Cummins Engine Professor of Management”.

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Last years

As the culmination of a successful academic life, Frederick Herzberg was recognized in 1995 with his book Work and the nature of man as one of the most influential authors in the theory and practice of business administration of the 20th century, being this book among the first 10 most important texts in the field.

During his later years he continued to teach and expand his ideas about motivation in the world. employment, the relationship between the employee and the employer and how these factors influence well-being labor.

Frederick Irving Herzberg He would die in Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 19, 2000 at the age of 76..

Frederick Herzberg's theory of motivation and hygiene

Based on his discoveries, Frederick Herzberg elaborated a new theory, which he called the “two-factor theory”, better known as the “hygiene-motivation theory”.

According to him, there are two factors that intervene in the workplace, affecting some negatively and affecting others positively, as long as they are present. He called the former factors of dissatisfaction, which is preferable not to occur, while the latter would be satisfaction factors. Ideally, the company seeks and promotes them.

Factors for dissatisfaction

This is the first type of factor raised by Herzberg within his theory. Factors of dissatisfaction include those that, if present, cause discomfort in workers. If they are not manifested in the workplace, they do not increase well-being beyond a certain point. That is to say, if they are there, the only thing that can be expected is that the situation will get worse, and if they are not there, nothing can be expected to happen.

Some examples of factors for dissatisfaction in the workplace would be elements such as too restrictive company policies, too much supervision, relational problems between colleagues or with superiors, subhuman working conditions, low salary or lack of security and stability labor.

In any company in which these types of factors are detected, it will be necessary to work on them and, to the extent that you can, remove them. This is the first step, although not the only or definitive one, to improve the motivation of the workers, since eliminating the bad will make them start to feel better.

This is currently visible in a simple way, since companies with greater flexibility with their workers and who offer social incentives have lower levels of dissatisfaction among their employees.

Factors for satisfaction

Once the factors of dissatisfaction have been detected and eliminated, it is time to work on the factors of satisfaction. These, as their name indicates, promote job satisfaction in the event of.

It should be understood that the absence of this type of factors does not cause dissatisfaction in the job position. work, but it will be difficult for workers to be fully motivated instead of job. His absence does not cause discomfort, but his presence will make them feel more comfortable.

The factors for satisfaction are related to elements such as greater ease in achieving achievements within the company, recognition of the achievements made by the workers and appreciation of the tasks that has fulfilled. The facilities offered by the company so that its employees can advance and advance are also considered a satisfaction factor. keep learning, making them feel constantly growing and not given as people incapable of learning anything further.

At present it is considered thatThe factors for satisfaction play an even more important role than the factors for dissatisfaction. It is for this reason that people seem to prefer more and more jobs in which their emotional and psychological well-being is taken into account before looking at the number of hours or salary.

What should companies do?

Although Frederick Herzberg's greatest contribution to the field of business management is his motivation and hygiene theory, it is also thanks to him, it is better known what companies should do to have workers with greater emotional well-being and consequently work better. It had the clear intention of improving the working conditions of employees, stressing that companies must offer more opportunities to increase their participation in tasks of management, planning, evaluation and improvement of their jobs.

Herzberg stressed that superiors must reduce their control over subordinates and encourage their autonomy. This makes the latter more aware of the performance of their work, in addition to developing greater responsibility and making sure that their job remains afloat. This would increase the motivation among subordinates and reduce the workload of the bosses.

Another rather innovative aspect of Frederick Herzberg's vision of how companies should function was to compartmentalize the phases of production and services. That is, instead of making each worker take care of only one phase of the process, you should make him a participant in all of them so that he knows how the product is being developed or how the service. Otherwise the worker is limited to doing his job, not knowing what has been done before or what will be done next, which could reduce quality.

Communication is essential at work. Direct and constant feedback must be provided to the workers, so that they know at all moment what they can improve, without focusing only on what they have not achieved or what is improvable. They must be informed about what they are doing well and how much they are valued in the organization.

Bibliographic references:

• Perez, J., Mendez, S., Jaca, M. (2010). Employee motivation: Herzberg's theory. Seville, Spain: University of Seville.
• Feder, b. (2000). F. YO. Herzberg, 76, Professor And Management Consultant. New York, United States: The New York Times.