There have never been any research without criticisms and
Herzberg’s own therefore is not exceptional. Some researchers questioned
Herzberg’s method of investigation, stating that no effort was made by Herzberg
to measure the relationship between satisfaction and performance.
A study by R. House and L. Wigdor
(1967), investigating Herzberg’s Dual factors theory of Job satisfaction and
motivation could not replicate his findings, and it was concluded that his
results may have been influenced by the method used to collect the information.
Some claim that the two sets of
job factors uncovered by Herzberg are
independent. Some individuals are motivated by salary, while others are not at
all motivated by advancement opportunities. Some people even perceive
advancement as something to avoid; for example, a rig engineer working
off-shore receiving a daily allowance of
Another criticism is that
Herzberg based his theory of motivation on response of engineers and
accountants, and therefore ought not generalize such result to
non-professionals and less educated employees. This was the criticism generated
from an empirical test of five (5) versions of the Two –Factor Theory of Job
satisfaction by L. K. Waters and C. W. Waters (1972).
However, besides all the
criticisms, Herzberg theory has
continued to thrive possibly because for the layman, it is easy to
understand and seems to be based on real life situation, rather than academic
abstraction, and partly because it fits in well with Maslow’s theory (1954) and McGregor ( 1960) X and Y
Theory.
Herzberg’s theory is also in line
with a fundamental belief in the dignity of labour and the protestant
ethic-that work is good in itself. It is Herzberg’s theory that forms the basis
of the “Job Descriptive Index” (JDI), which measures satisfaction with five job
facets: (i) work itself (ii) supervision (iii) pay (iv) promotion opportunity,
and (v) co- workers.
More so, Herzberg has looked at
and discussed motivation in terms that managers understand, without loading his
discussion with professional jargons and terminologies such as those that
managers usually gloss over and ignore. Experts do agree that the two-factor
theory provides guidance for building motivators into job contents, an approach
called job enrichment