In organizational communication
the belief is theory guides behavior; and in this paper the
Motivational-Hygiene theory will be applied to my life and work
experiences. To begin, the motivational-hygiene
theory is commonly referred to as the “two-factor theory” because the theory
regards both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Shockley-Zalabak said the Motivation-Hygiene
Theory emphasizes the influence of both internal and external factors in
explaining human behavior.
About
the theory
The motivation-hygiene theory was
established by Frederick Herzberg and his associates at the Psychological
Service of Pittsburgh. Their ambition
was to identify the source of job satisfaction and ultimately job motivation.
Their hypothesis, that there are irregular, varying characteristics of job
dissatisfaction and satisfaction, but they are not polar opposites. If something is producing dissatisfaction in
the work environment and it is removed, satisfaction and motivation are not
necessarily the result. Thus the concept
of job enrichment was created.
Herzberg’s, now institutionalized theory, was published in three
separate volumes over years. All the
while, the motivation-hygiene theory was the topic of much controversy. Social scientists said the theory was neither
scientific, managerial nor useful.
A self-confessed humanist,
Herzberg’s background began in mental health.
His undergraduate education began at College at City University, later
he served in Europe during World War II and then attended the University of
Pittsburgh for graduate studies where he attained a Ph.D. in clinical psychology
and a Masters of Public Health.
When the basics of the theory
were published in 1959 job enrichment was extremely attractive to management,
although, in time the general thought of the theory was said to be that it was
deficient. Before the theory the overall
thought of job satisfaction was thought to be positively associated with job
performance levels. Initial tests were
conducted at IBM in the 1940’s. Whereby tasks
were added horizontally and job requirements called for greater skill and judgment
therefore the job is enriching vertically.
This was called job enlargement.
In the book, Organizational
Behavior 1: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership, in the 1970’s
job enrichment was endorsed as a solution to the country’s productivity
problems by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. However, the most publicly known experiment
associated with this theory was conducted with accountants and engineers. The people were asked to describe incidents
of “a time when they felt exceptionally good or a time when they felt
exceptionally bad about their job.” The
incidents could be either a long-range sequence of events or a short-range
incident. The outcomes of such a process
were stories from each subject specifying a factors-attitudes-effects
sequence. Using thirty nine scoring
categories, Herzberg and his associates were able to identify when the
accountants and engineers felt exceptionally good about their jobs (job
satisfaction) or felt exceptionally bad about their jobs (dissatisfaction). The factors or events that led to
satisfaction were quite different kind from those that led to dissatisfaction
according to Organizational Behavior.
The psychological factors (satisfiers) of job satisfaction, the
motivators for higher levels of job performance are achievement (promotion),
advancement, recognition (verbal), responsibility (e.g. “They let us take real
responsibility here. People expect the
best but they don’t always look over your shoulder.”)[1],
the potential for personal growth and the work itself (e.g. “The work is challenging,
and I think we are putting out a good product.”)[2]. What
is most motivating is the work itself; although most often the responsibility,
opportunity for growth, advancement and recognition are downplayed. The factors of dissatisfaction (dissatisfiers or hygiene) characterize
the context in which the work is performed, largely the environment. (Miner, 2005) The factors of job dissatisfaction are policy
and administrative practices, the technical quality of supervision,
relationships with supervisors (e.g. “I like my supervisor. We were really unhappy with the previous
guy.”)[3],
peers and subordinates, benefits and salary (e.g. “The pay here is good, and I
give them a good return on their money.”)[4],
job security, interpersonal relations (personal life), physical work
conditions, and status (e.g. “I like having my own office and a secretary. I’ve never had that before.”)[5],
and job security. Simply stated, the
opposite of satisfaction is simply the absence of satisfaction. (Miner, 2005) This theory suggests that dissatisfaction
can be relieved by satisfactory communication and action toward the hygiene
characteristics of work. However,
according to Shockley-Zalabak, “Motivation will not be achieved by such
communication. Motivational
communication is more likely to be effective when directed to achievement,
recognition, challenging work, increased responsibility, and growth and
development.
Also stated in the theory are the
characteristics of the individual and the effect those characteristics have on
the individual’s perception of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. When in a job, the individual’s basic needs
will be satisfied and then positive feelings and an improved performance will
ensue. (Miner, 2005)
There is a tendency of high growth-oriented people to feel unhappy when
deprived of motivators and in turn there are those who are fixated on
hygiene-seeking, such as the mentally ill; a direct connection to Herzberg’s
educational foundation. Hygiene seekers
are poor risks for a company, they tend to be motivated over short periods of
time and require external reward; they cannot be reliable in a time of crisis. (Miner, 2005) Organizational
Behavior 1 lists the “normal” types as:
1. The person who has both hygiene
and motivator fulfillment, who is not unhappy (hygiene) and is also very happy
(motivation).
2. The person who is on both need
systems but has little fulfillment in the hygiene are even though motivator
satisfaction is good. Such a “starving
artist” is both unhappy and happy.
3. The person who is also on both
need systems but whose satisfactions are reversed-hygiene are good but
motivators are poor; such people are not unhappy but neither are they happy.
4. The down and out person is
lacking in fulfillment generally and is both unhappy and lacking in happiness.
Even into his death in 2000,
Herzberg was said to never have repudiated his theory in any measure. From the beginning, Herzberg advocated
restructuring jobs to place greater reliance on motivators. The techniques of this kind that evolved over
the years became orthodox job enrichment.
And therefore, Herzberg took on the self-designated title of the “father
of job enrichment.”
Personal
Experience
The elements of the
Motivation-Hygiene theory relate to my work experiences as a server at the
restaurants Fox and Hound Pub and Grill and Pappasito’s Cantina. I worked as a server at Fox and Hound for
approximately four years. The first two
and a half years were under the supervision of the General Manager, Dustin
Evans. I was extremely satisfied working
at Fox and Hound, at first. However,
Dustin was relocated to a different location, to open another location and I
became extremely dissatisfied with my job and myself. Now, I am a server at the original
Pappasito’s Cantina location and have been there for approximately two months
and I am not satisfied. My duties at
Pappasito’s are very similar to the duties I had at Fox and Hound. In fact, in some regards the work at
Pappasito’s is easier to complete than the work I did at Fox and Hound. But still, I am not satisfied and therefore I
have noticed that I perform certain behaviors when working at Pappasito’s. I believe my job dissatisfaction is the reason
for these behaviors.
Fox and Hound is a bar that
happens to serve food. The biggest form
of a promotion there was to be become a bartender and succeeding at it. Becoming a bartender was a great confidence
boost for many of my co-workers; it was almost they lusted after the
opportunity, the desire was so strong. Our
location grossed the most money, won several nation-wide contests, and was often
considered the example of greatness for the other locations to achieve. I was proud to work there. On a weekly basis Dustin would post the server's “stats” number of desserts sold, numbers of beer sold in the most recent
contest, or the percentage of claimed tips versus total sales. Each week there was a message on the posted results
comedically abusing those at the bottom of the list and congratulating those at
the top. The other servers and I deeply
appreciated the weekly postings. It was
healthy competition that gave us a specific targeted sale goal each week and
therefore we worked harder to meet those goals.
I learned more about my emotional and physical capabilities in the time
I worked there than any other job or profession I have participated in. The uniform was comprised of a sexy, low cut,
black, baby t-shirt and black pants.
Black on black is flattering to the figure. During my time working at Fox and Hound the
other servers and I went through Sias’ and Cahill’s (1998) three primary
transitions of the development of workplace friendships among peers; from co-worker
or acquaintance-to-friend, friend-to-close friend, to close friend-to-almost best friend.
If Fox and Hound was so wonderful
why did I leave? After Dustin’s move the
location went through several changes.
The new General Manager, Patrick, possessed a completely different work
style and not enough of the practical skills we [the servers] needed. Many times bartenders had to take the GM keys
and perform the functions for themselves what they needed Patrick to do; to
explain in detail to Patrick often took longer than just completing the task
personally. The Motivational-Hygiene
theory suggests that dissatisfaction can be relieved by satisfactory
communication and action toward the hygiene characteristics of work. However this was not the case for the
management of Fox and Hound. Although
many customers complained about the rotten smell coming from the moist wood of
the bar which was soaked from years and years of beer, mop water and mold
nothing changed. I personally had a
private conversation with one of the managers who suggested I write an email
the Regional Manager. I wrote the email
to the Regional Manager after which a plumber flushed the main sewage line and
management was told there jobs were endangered.
The real issue was not confronted.
That was when I made the choice to leave. Management was clearly interested in ignoring
the real issue due to the cost of closing the store and rebuilding a new bar
which would in turn bring more business in to the store.
Pappasito’s is a restaurant that
happens to serve drinks. The Pappa's
company is not a nation-wide chain although there are several locations
through-out the continental United States.
There are several opportunities for advancement, as the company only
hires from within for higher level positions, such as bartender or management. Server’s names mentioned in online surveys are
recognized through a regular posting in the back of the restaurant although
there doesn’t seem to be a specific pattern for the distribution of the
information. There are selling contests
however our location seems to be doing the worst of all the locations. At a certain point our sales of the specific
item(s) was so bad that management took to challenging to sell the most for
just that shift with a reward of free food.
But that only motivates the servers to accomplish the bare minimum
required of them. Pappasito’s is much
more structured and ridged in their structure than Fox and Hound was. For instance, food coming from the kitchen must be on a try, not carried in hands. The management is very serious about carrying
out every policy or regulation implemented and a few people have been relieved
from their duties or have been suspended since I began working there. For example, I was asked to purchase a
specific type of non-slip shoe and bring it to orientation for approval before
wearing. In addition to a specific shoe,
servers must also wear the Pappasito’s button down shirt that can only be dry
cleaned, flame retardant pants, dark colored socks, minimal jewelry and the
hair cannot be free to fall into the face.
However, the management could not coordinate the creation of a posi-card
(a credit card looking device that allows me to into orders into the computer)
for me for almost six weeks. I was
finally able to obtain a card this past weekend, but not without an argument
between the manager on duty and myself.
She thought I had lost my card and had to inform her that I never
possessed one. The money I make at
Pappasito’s is not comparable to the money I made at Fox, in any regards and I
have begun smiling unnecessarily to disguise the unhappiness I feel. Because I never know who is watching at any
time, when I feel most unhappy about working at Pappasito’s I smile for no
reason. Others have noticed the smiling
and commented, I create different excuses for the smile, but honestly it is
dissatisfaction. I have established a
few light, casual friendships with my co-workers, but I fear I will not work at
the location long enough to complete the three primary transitions of the
development of workplace friendships among peers.
I have begun making the necessary
steps to end my job dissatisfaction, I recently begun looking for other
employment with several fine dining locations throughout Houston. Instead of working at a place where I am
easily replaced I would rather work somewhere where my talent and dedication
can be nurtured and challenged. I want
to work in a restaurant that adequately compensates me to the tune of $200-$300
a shift instead of $80-$100.
The opposite of satisfaction is the
absence of satisfaction. I am not
satisfied with working at Pappasito’s. I
know what job satisfaction is because I felt it for several years when working
at Fox and Hound. The differences that
have led to my dissatisfaction are the environmental factors of the two
establishments. An interesting
conclusion to this comparison is when I began working at Fox and Hound, and
felt satisfied from the beginning, my boyfriend at that time worked for a
different location of Pappasito’s than the one I currently worked with and he
felt job dissatisfaction as well. Lesson
learned.
No comments:
Post a Comment