Motivation Theories: Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg and Job Design
Motivation theory explains what drives employees to work hard and stay committed to a business. F.W. Taylor's scientific management (1911) argued workers are motivated solely by money, and proposed breaking jobs into simple, closely-supervised, timed tasks with piece-rate pay (pay based on the quantity produced) to maximise output. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1943) proposed that human needs form a five-level pyramid, physiological, safety, love/belonging (social), esteem, and self-actualisation, and that a lower level must be substantially satisfied before the next level up can motivate a person. Frederick Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory (1959) distinguished hygiene factors (such as pay, working conditions and company policy, which do not motivate but which cause dissatisfaction if absent or poor) from motivators (such as achievement, recognition, responsibility and the interest of the work itself, which genuinely create job satisfaction); Herzberg argued businesses should use job enrichment (giving employees more challenging, varied and meaningful tasks with real responsibility) and job enlargement (adding more tasks at a similar level of skill) to build in motivators, rather than assuming pay rises alone will motivate.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Identify which theory (or theories) the question requires, since Taylor, Maslow and Herzberg give different, sometimes conflicting, explanations of what motivates people at work.
- Name the theorist correctly alongside the theory, since A Level mark schemes credit specific, correctly attributed theory, not just a vague description of 'motivation'.
- For Maslow, identify which level of the pyramid is relevant to the scenario, and explain that a lower level must be adequately met before the next level up will motivate that employee.
- For Herzberg, sort the factors in the scenario into hygiene factors (prevent dissatisfaction, e.g. pay, conditions) and motivators (create genuine satisfaction, e.g. achievement, recognition, responsibility), and note that simply increasing a hygiene factor like pay will not, on its own, create lasting motivation.
- Recommend a specific, practical change linked to the theory used, such as job enrichment (Herzberg) or addressing an unmet need at the relevant level (Maslow), rather than a generic statement like 'pay them more'.
- For an evaluate question, weigh the theories against each other or against practical limits (e.g. job enrichment takes management time to design and may not suit every job role), and reach a supported judgement.
Worked example
A call centre pays all staff a flat hourly wage. Staff turnover is high, and an employee survey reports that the job is repetitive, staff rarely receive feedback on their calls, and they have no say in how a customer query is resolved. Using Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, recommend and justify one change the call centre could make to improve motivation.
- Identify the hygiene factor already present: pay (a flat hourly wage). Herzberg argued hygiene factors like pay prevent dissatisfaction but do not, by themselves, create genuine job satisfaction or motivation.
- Identify the motivators that are missing from the job as described: achievement (no visible outcome from a call), recognition (no feedback given), and responsibility (no say in resolving the query).
- Recommend job enrichment: give each staff member ownership of a customer's query from start to resolution, including the authority to make small decisions to resolve it, and provide regular feedback on call outcomes.
- Justify using Herzberg's theory: this change directly builds in the missing motivators, responsibility (through ownership and decision-making authority) and recognition (through feedback), which Herzberg predicted will raise genuine job satisfaction, whereas simply raising the flat hourly wage would only be adjusting an existing hygiene factor and, per the theory, would not be expected to solve the underlying motivation problem.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Who developed scientific management, and in what year was it published?Show answer
Answer: F.W. Taylor, in 1911.
Q2Name the five levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, from lowest to highest.Show answer
Answer: Physiological, safety, love/belonging (social), esteem, and self-actualisation.
Q3In Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, what is a hygiene factor?Show answer
Answer: A factor, such as pay, working conditions, or company policy, that does not motivate employees but causes dissatisfaction if it is absent or inadequate.
Q4Give two examples of Herzberg's motivators.Show answer
Answer: Any two of: achievement, recognition, responsibility, the interest of the work itself, or advancement/growth.
Q5Define job enrichment.Show answer
Answer: Giving an employee more challenging, varied and meaningful tasks with genuine responsibility, in order to build in motivators such as achievement and recognition.
Q6Explain why Taylor's approach of piece-rate pay might not motivate every worker.Show answer
Answer: Taylor assumed money is the only motivator, but theories such as Herzberg's suggest pay is only a hygiene factor that prevents dissatisfaction rather than one that creates genuine, lasting job satisfaction, so workers who value variety or responsibility may not be motivated by piece-rate pay alone.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Business exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Analyse how a business could use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to improve employee motivation.
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PineRoot Logistics employs 60 warehouse pickers on a flat hourly wage with strict, closely-timed individual targets set by supervisors, similar to Taylor's scientific management approach. Staff turnover is 45% a year, well above the industry average of 20%, and exit interviews show most leavers cite 'boring, repetitive work' and 'no say in how I do my job' as their main reasons for leaving, not pay. A trial in one warehouse gave small teams of pickers responsibility for planning their own daily task order and receiving weekly performance feedback from a manager; that warehouse's turnover fell to 22% within six months. Evaluate whether PineRoot Logistics should apply Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory across all its warehouses.
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