The relationship of enthusiasm, motivational and hygiene factors with the labor interests of employees

Abstract

In industrial and organizational psychology, the phenomenon of interest and its relationship with motivation and enthusiasm are poorly studied. Understanding these associations can contribute to the holistic and systematic model of personnel functioning in modern organizations. Also, when compared to creative field, is there a place for interest in routine job? The current study aimed to investigate the role of motivational and hygienic factors in ​​work involvement and labor interest. We also examined the relationship between labor interest and work enthusiasm levels. The study involved 86 employees (90% females) of a bank office, aged 22 to 52 years with varying work experience ranging from 1 to 16 years. By means of questionnaires we estimated employees’ labor motivation based on the F. Herzberg’s theory, the labor interests (developed by the author) and work enthusiasm (the Utrecht scale). Results showed that for those involved in routine jobs, economic, group and territorial interests are positively associated with hygienic factors and negatively – with motivational factors. In turn, the employees’ engagement is positively associated with professional, career, group, corporate and territorial interests. Finally, work enthusiasm was shown to positively correlate with the motivation for career. No relationship was found between age and work experience with work enthusiasm. Thus, the following factors were found to be capable of increasing the work interest among those involved in routine jobs: adequate salary, friendly team that shares common values, attentive managers, and the reliability of the company.