Abstract
Given the limitations in providing monetary rewards as an incentive in the public sector, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation can be promising if it is applicable to public employees. This study identifies the effects of motivators and hygiene factors on public managers’ job satisfaction, and finds out if there is difference, compared to how private-sector employees are motivated. According to the findings, a majority of identified motivators in the previous research showed positive effects on job satisfaction among public managers, and public managers’ job satisfaction was not affected by hygiene factor as predicted in Herzberg’s study. Managerial implications are discussed.
Notes
National Administrative Studies Projects (NASP) data was first collected in 1992 and NASP III is a final attempt at a NASP database.
Since the mean value is 2.5 when the score range is between 1 and 4, any value that is larger than 2.5 indicates that more than majority of respondents checked very important (4) or somewhat important (3) in their answers.
According to this result, more than majority of public managers would strongly agree or somewhat agree that they had enough authority to determine how to get their jobs done.
The term, dimension is used in this study instead of factor that is the original term, to avoid confusion with hygiene and motivating factors.
References
Alban Metcalfe, B. (1989). What motivates managers: an investigation by gender and sector of employment. Public Administration Quarterly, 67, 95–108.
Alderfer, C. P. (1969). Empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 4(2), 142–175. doi:10.1016/0030-5073(69)90004-x.
Alonso, P., & Lewis, G. B. (2001). Public service motivation and job performance evidence from the federal sector. The American Review of Public Administration, 31(4), 363–380.
Argyris, C. (1960). Understanding organizational behavior. Homewood: Dorsey Press.
Baldwin, J. N., & Farley, Q. A. (2001). Comparing the public and private sectors in the United States: a review of the empirical research. Public Administration and Public Policy, 94, 119–130.
Balmer, S., & Baum, T. (1993). Applying Herzberg’s hygiene factors to the changing accommodation environment. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 5, 32–35.
Bellé, N. (2013). Experimental evidence on the relationship between public service motivation and job performance. Public Administration Review, 73(1), 143–153.
Boyne, G. A. (2002). Public and private management: What’s the difference? Journal of Management Studies, 39(1), 97–122. doi:10.1111/1467-6486.00284.
Brudney, Jeffrey L, and Stephen E Condrey. (1993). Pay for performance: Explaining the differences in managerial motivation. Public Productivity & Management Review, 17(2):129–144.
Buelens, M., & Van den Broeck, H. (2007). An analysis of differences in work motivation between public and private sector organizations. Public Administration Review, 67(1), 65–74. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00697.x.
Caiden, G. E. (1991). What really is public maladministration? Public Administration Review, 51(6), 486–493.
Camilleri, E. (2007). Antecedents affecting public service motivation. Personnel Review, 36(3), 356–377.
Cormier, Stephen M, and Joseph D Hagman. (2014). Transfer of learning: Contemporary research and applications. Cambridge: Academic Press.
Crewson, P. E. (1997). Public service motivation: building empirical evidence of incidence and effect. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 7, 499–518.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297–334.
DeSantis, V. S., & Durst, S. L. (1996). Comparing job satisfaction among public and private sector employees. American Review of Public Administration, 26, 327–343.
Emmert, M. A., & Taher, W. A. (1992). Public sector professionals: the effects of public sector jobs on motivation, job satisfaction and work involvement. American Review of Public Administration, 22(1), 37.
Ewen, R. B., Smith, P. C., & Hulin, C. L. (1966). An empirical test of the Herzberg two-factor theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50(6), 544.
Ford, J. K. (2014). Improving training effectiveness in work organizations. Hove: Psychology Press.
Furnham, A., Forde, L., & Ferrari, K. (1999). Personality and work motivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 1035–1043.
Gabris, G. T., & Simo, G. (1995). Public sector motivation as an independent variable affecting career decisions. Public Personnel Management, 25, 33–51.
Gore, Al. 1993. From red tape to results: creating a government that Works Better & Costs Less. Report of the National Performance Review.
Griffin, Ricky W., and Gregory Moorhead. 2011. Organizational Behavior: Managing people and organization: OH: south-western.
Hair Jr., J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1995). Multivariate Data Analysis (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
Heneman, R. L., & Werner, J. M. (2005). Merit pay: Linking pay to performance in a changing world. : IAP.
Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: how do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 46, 53–62.
Herzberg, F. A., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: Wiley.
Ingraham, P. W, P. G. Joyce, and A. K. Donahue. (2003). Government performance: Why management matters. : Taylor & Francis.
Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 530–541. doi:10.1037/0021.9010.87.3.530.
Kaiser, Henry F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis. Educational and psychological measurement.
Kennedy, P. (1992). A Guide to Econometrics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kettl, D., & Fesler, J. (2009). The politics of the administrative process (4th ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Khojasteh, M. (1993). Motivating the private vs. public sector managers. Public Personnel Management, 22(3), 391.
Leisink, P., & Steijn, B. (2009). Public service motivation and job performance of public sector employees in the Netherlands. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75(1), 35–52.
Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and Organisational psychology (pp. 1297–1349). Chicago: Rand McNally.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2004). What should we do ab out motivation theory? Six recommendation for the twenty-first century. Advances in motivation and achievement, 10, 175–412.
Lynn, L., Heinrich, C., & Hill, C. (2000). Studying governance and public management: why? How?, governance and performance: new perspective. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.
Meier, K. J., & O’Toole Jr., L. J. (2002). Public management and organizational performance: the impact of managerial quality. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 21(4), 629–643.
Moynihan, D. P., & Pandey, S. K. (2005). Testing how management matters in an era of government by performance management. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15, 421–439.
Nicholson-Crotty, S., & O’Toole, L. J. (2004). Public management and organizational performance: the case of law enforcement agencies. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 14(1), 1–18.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nyame-Mireku, M. N. (2012). Determinants of job satisfaction among hospital pharmacists and their intent to leave using Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Minneapolis: Capella University.
Pandey, S. K. and E. C. Stazyk (2008). Antecedents and correlates of public service motivation. In: J. L. Perry and A. Hondeghem (Eds), Motivation in public management: The call of public service, (pp. 101-117). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Parsons, E., & Broadbridge, A. (2006). Job motivation and satisfaction: unpacking the key factors for charity shop managers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 13(2), 121–131. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2005.08.013.
Perry, J. L., & Rainey, H. G. (1988). The public–private distinction in organization theory: a critique and research strategy. Academy of Management Review, 13, 182–201.
Perry, J. L., Hondeghem, A., & Wise, L. R. (2010). Revisiting the motivational bases of public service: twenty years of research and an agenda for the future. Public Administration Review, 70(5), 681–690.
Pinder, C. (2008). Work motivation in organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Probst, T. M., Brett, J. M., Drasgow, F. (2002). The impact of job insecurity on employee work attitudes, job adaptation, and organizational withdrawal behaviors. In: J. Brett and F. Drasgow (Eds), The psychology of work: Theoretically based empirical research, (pp. 141-168). Mahwah, NJ: Psychology Press.
Rainey, H. (1982). Reward preferences among public and private managers: in search of the service ethic. American Review of Public Administration, 16, 288–302.
Rainey, H. G. (1989). Public management: recent research on the political context and managerial roles, structures and behaviors. Journal of Management, 15, 229–250.
Rainey, H. (2014). Understanding and managing pubic organizations. 5th ed. : Jossey-Bass.
Rainey, H. G., & Bozeman, B. (2000). Comparing public and private organizations: empirical research and the power of the a priori. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10, 447–469.
Rainey, H. G., & Steinbauer, P. (1999). Galloping elephants: developing elements of a theory of effective government organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 9(1), 1–32.
Rawls, J., Ullrich, R., & Nelson, O. (1975). A comparison of managers entering or reentering the profit and nonprofit sectors. Academy of Management Journal, 18, 616–623.
Rousseau, D. M. (1989). Psychological and implied contracts in organizations. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2, 121–139.
Sanjeev, MA, & Surya, A. V. (2016). Two factor theory of motivation and satisfaction: an empirical verification. Annals of Data Science, 3(2):1–19.
Shipley, D., & Kiely, J. (1988). Motivation and dissatisfaction of industrial salespeople-how relevant is Herzberg’s theory? European Journal of Marketing, 22(1), 17–30.
Steel, B. S., & Warner, R. L. (1990). Job satisfaction among early labor force participants: unexpected outcomes in public and private sector comparisons. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 10, 4–22.
Stringer, C., Didham, J., & Theivananthampillai, P. (2011). Motivation, pay satisfaction, and job satisfaction of front-line employees. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 8(2), 161–179.
Wilson, J. Q. (1967). The bureaucracy problem. The Public Interest, 6, 3.
Wittmer, D. (1991). Serving the people or serving for pay: reward preferences among government, hybrid sector and business managers. Public Productivity and Management Review, 14, 369–383.
Wright, B. E. (2001). Public-sector work motivation: a review of the current literature and a revised conceptual model. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 11(4), 559–586.
Wright, B. E., & Davis, B. S. (2003). Job satisfaction in the public sector the role of the work environment. The American Review of Public Administration, 33(1), 70–90.
Zhang, Y., Yao, X., & Cheong, J. O. (2011). City managers’ job satisfaction and frustration: factors and implications. American Review of Public Administration, 41(6), 670–685. doi:10.1177/0275074010392212.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix 1
Appendix 1
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hur, Y. Testing Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation in the Public Sector: Is it Applicable to Public Managers?. Public Organiz Rev 18, 329–343 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-017-0379-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-017-0379-1