The Motivation to Work [Paperback]

Frederick Herzberg (Author), Bernard Mausner (Author), Barbara Bloch Snyderman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156000634X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560006343
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Major Contribution to Understanding Motivation, May 30, 2009

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Doctor A. (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Motivation to Work (Paperback)

Herzberg's seminal work is both robust and enduring. Few ideas about the workplace have offered such insight and wisdom... as well as misunderstanding and controversy. His classic, "One More Time... How Do You Motivate Employees?" is the number one most requested article in the history of the Harvard Business Review and has been republished multiple times during the past four decades. This is obviously a message management needs to relearn time and again.

Ultimately, the core value of Herzberg's pioneering research is that the relationship between the employee and the organization is more complex than mere economic exchange. His work invites us to consider that motivation comes from within the individual -- it is something the organization gets FROM its people, rather than something it does TO them. Herzberg's distinction between motivation (internally generated action) and movement (the response to external reward) is paramount to understanding how employees experience the work world. This crucial insight offers management an alternative to tricking employees into doing stupid jobs by simply paying them money. As Herzberg makes clear, it's the job we ask folks to do and the social context in which work takes place that provide the richest options for creating compelling organizations.

Many progressive CEOs and thought leaders in the field embrace this paradigm. Jim Goodnight of SAS states that, "Ninety-five percent of my assets drive out the driveway each night. My job is to bring them back the next day." Peter Drucker extolled the virtues of transcending the notion that "work is a curse." Peter Senge has offered a roadmap for creating a learning organization with self-sustaining energy and vitality. Jeffery Pfeffer states that too often, organizations are measuring all the wrong things -- essentially majoring in minors. His HBR article "Six Dangerous Myths About Pay" offers a platform for demystifying management's numerous misconceptions concerning the realities of compensation.

From these and many other giants of the management profession, it is clear that Herzberg's core beliefs about the workplace have enduring value. "The Motivation to Work" offers the reader unique insights into the complexities of employee needs and their performace at work. It also provides a much needed alternative to the carrot-and-stick approach to motivation so apparent in most organizations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basis for my research, September 16, 2008

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D. Tripp "WaterDude" (Monrovia, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Motivation to Work (Paperback)

Not only did I include this in the literature review portion of my research project on retention and turnover, but it really formed the basis of several aspects of my research on turnover and worker satisfaction. I enjoyed it so much after borrowing from the library and reading it that I had to have a copy for myself. Many are quick to reject Herzberg's two-factor theory, but it's hard to go wrong in using what you'll learn from his results and conclusions in dealing with worker motivation. This is an outstanding analysis of what motivates workers, satisfiers and dissatisfiers, and hygiene versus motivators. A true classic in every sense of the word!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Motivation to Work, January 16, 2012

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Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Motivation to Work (Paperback)

What do employees really want from their jobs? The answers might surprise you, as they did researchers and business owners when social scientist Frederick Herzberg published this seminal work about employee motivation in 1959. Contrary to what you might think, people aren't seeking only money and perks. Most workers' real motivation comes from the desire for self-actualization, achievement and recognition for a job well done. Modern readers will find much that is prescient in Herzberg's conclusions - particularly as they relate to the increasingly technological and dehumanizing aspects of the present-day workplace. The use of strictly male references is jarring to the contemporary ear, but the language is gender-specific because the circa 1959 research included only men. Even with that serious anachronism, getAbstract recommends this classic text on motivation and employee morale to executives seeking a better understanding of their personnel.