Herzberg, Pr Frederick Herzberg did many interviews and came up with this below table based on empirical evidences. He built up his theory in 1964, 50 years ago. I mean FIFTY YEARS AGO!

Pretty amazing! One thing to mention, to understand well the table, is the fact that the opposite of Satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but rather no satisfaction. The same way, the opposite to dissatisfaction is not satisfaction but rather no dissatisfaction!

The other point is that it is not possible to eliminate one of the 2 factors theory (Hygiene or Motivators). It is the chemistry or balance between those attributes that will result in a real motivational environment for the employees.
What we came to agree in class was that in order to minimize the dissatisfaction factors, the most important was to fix:
– The problem of ineffective or bad administrative policies
– Non-competitive wages
– And remove job insecurity

And Help to:
– Foster and nurture a supportive culture
– Provide meaningful, challenging and rewarding work
– Effective leadership

Briefly, the manager has to know what makes the employee satisfied or unhappy. And has to try to get to the right balance.
Around 50 years ago Herzberg did an amazing mapping. We can still, today, rely on that work to understand some reasons of issues in most companies.