Employee Motivation: Maslow's Hierarchy and Herzberg's Two Factor Theory

This report discusses Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two Factor Theory as motivational techniques that can be used by Jack discount stores to keep its employees motivated. Maslow's theory focuses on fulfilling different needs of individuals, while Herzberg's theory emphasizes on creating workplace conditions that result in motivation coming from within the employees themselves.

Employee Motivation
MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES AT
JACK STORES – 985658
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Employee Motivation
Table of Contents
Case Background...............................................................................................................3
Maslow Needs Hierarchy...................................................................................................3
Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory............................................................................................4
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................5
Bibliography......................................................................................................................6
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Employee Motivation
Case Background
Tesco announced opening of its new discount stores “Jack” in order to compete with Aldi
and Lidl. The new Tesco stores will have competitive pricing similar to Aldi and Lidl. The
company is keen to develop its new line of stores, which will have similar culture and values
like the previous Tesco stores. A major area where the company wants to focus is to keep its
employees motivated. Therefore, in this report, we will discuss some motivational theories
that can be used by Jack discount stores to keep its employees motivated.
Maslow Needs Hierarchy
Maslow need hierarchy theory is one of the pioneer theories in the field of motivation, which
was developed by Abraham Maslow in the 1940s. Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs that
identified five different need sets of individuals in workplace setup. The needs ranged from
psychological needs, safety needs, belongingness & love needs, esteem needs and self-
actualisation needs. Psychological needs are the most basic needs while self-actualisation
needs are the most complex types of needs (Fallatah & Syed, 2018). Maslow proposed that
the fulfilment of one need motivates an individual to work harder for the achievement of the
next set of needs. Applying this to an organisational setup, Maslow suggested that managers
should try to establish a connection with their employees and identify the needs that they
want to fulfil. The managers can then help them in fulfilling their needs, which will result in
the employees becoming motivated to work harder.
An advantage of using Maslow’s need hierarchy is that it has a natural appeal, which makes it
easier for the managers to understand it and implement it in the workplace. It provides a deep
insight into the nature of humans and how the fulfilment of needs can be used to keep
individuals motivated (Parikh, 2018). The concept of understanding the needs of humans can
also help managers in dealing with other human resource management issues, such as
retention, engagement, empowerment, etc. Lastly, the theory can be applicable in all fields of
life, whether its personal life or work life.
Maslow’s theory has also received criticism because of a number of reasons. Some people are
of the view that every individual does not think in the same manner. For example, for some
people, social affection and respect plays a greater role in achieving satisfaction, which is not
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Employee Motivation
addressed in Maslow’s need hierarchy. Secondly, Maslow’s need hierarchy is believed to
culture specific. Maslow’s theory contains self-actualisation needs as the most prestigious
need, which makes it a western concept because the concept of self-actualisation is a western
concept and is found absent in many other cultures of the world (Velmurugan & Sankar,
2017). Another area where this theory fails to create an appeal is that sometimes, it can
become difficult to assess the level of satisfaction that a person is most likely going to
achieve by fulfilling a need. For example, a person might feel satisfied after achieving
physiological needs whereas another person might not be satisfied even after fulfilling all the
needs (Kunchala, 2017).
Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
Herzberg’s two factor theory is a motivation theory that was developed by Frederick
Herzberg in 1959. Herzberg, in this theory, used two different factors i.e. motivational factors
and hygiene factors to explain the process of motivation in a workplace. According to
Herzberg, hygiene factors are related to the job and are essential for the creation of
motivation in the workplace (Alshmemri, et al., 2017). The presence of these factors does not
lead to motivation but the absence of these factors can lead to dissatisfaction amongst the
employees. Some of the hygiene factors are pay, company policies, work conditions, status,
interpersonal relations, etc. On the other hand, there are motivational factors that are the
actual forces that drive motivation in the workplace. The presence of these factors can lead to
positive satisfaction and are also known as satisfiers. Some of the factors included in this
category are recognition, growth, achievement, etc. (Sanjeev & Surya, 2016)
The limitations of this theory are that Herzberg made an assumption that there is a co-relation
between satisfaction and productivity, while the theory also overlooked some situational
variables. The theory is also not free from biasness as it is based on the reaction of
employees, which were obtained from them by enquiring them about the factors that caused
satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work. The theory is also considered to have ignored blue-
collar workers.
The benefits of Herzberg’s theory is that it takes employee well-being and condition of the
workplace into account while trying to study employee motivation. It also emphasises on
creating workplace conditions that result in motivating coming from within the employees
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Employee Motivation
themselves. Most of the companies are focusing on compensation as a source of employee
motivation but Herzberg’s two factor theory also takes employee problems into account while
treating compensation as a secondary factor (Parikh, 2018).
Conclusion
Both theories of motivation have their own pros and cons and can prove to be equally
beneficial for keeping the staff members of the jack store motivated. Initially, it would be
better for the organisation to use Herzberg’s theory of motivation to promote employee
motivation because in the beginning, the company will be required to create a workplace
environment that can go on to creation of motivation in employees. Once the hygiene factors
are adequately addressed, it is only then that the company will be able to go after
motivational factors. At a later stage, when the business becomes fully operational and the
culture of the workplace gets set, the managers can also use Maslow’s need hierarchy to
identify employee needs by establishing effective relations with individuals. Maslow’s need
hierarchy will play an equally important role because at a later stage, employees might
develop higher forms of need, which can be better addressed by Maslow’s need hierarchy
theory.
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Employee Motivation
Bibliography
Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. & Maude, P., 2017. Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life
Science Journal, 14(5), pp. 12-16.
Fallatah, R. & Syed, J., 2018. A Critical Review of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Employee
Motivation in Saudi Arabia, pp. 19-59.
Kunchala, K. S. R., 2017. Limitations of Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs' Theory | Merits |
Demerits. [Online] Available at: https://www.mbahelp24.com/limitations-maslow-s-
hierarchy-needs-theory-merits-demerits/[Accessed 11 May 2019].
Parikh, V., 2018. Advantages and Disadvantages of Maslow Theory of Motivation. [Online]
Available at: http://www.letslearnfinance.com/advantages-disadvantages-maslow-theory-
motivation.html[Accessed 11 May 2019].
Parikh, V., 2018. Advantages and Disadvantages of Herzberg Theory. [Online]
Available at: http://www.letslearnfinance.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-herzberg-
theory.html[Accessed 11 May 2019].
Sanjeev, M. & Surya, A., 2016. Two factor theory of motivation and satisfaction: an
empirical verification. Annals of Data Science, 3(2), pp. 155-173.
Velmurugan, T. & Sankar, J., 2017. A Comparative Study on Motivation Theory with
Maslow’s Hierarchy theory and Two-factor theory in Organization. Indo-Iranian Journal of
Science & Research, 1(1), pp. 204-208.
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