An Exploratory Grounded Study of the Relationship Between Job Satisfaction, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Motivators Within the Profession of Human Resource Management

Job satisfaction has been a topic of interest for decades. A plethora of research is available to assist organizational leaders with identifying motivators that influence job satisfaction. Human resource professionals have been given the task of ensuring the success of employee job satisfaction. However, limited research is available describing motivators that could impact their satisfaction. The Straussian grounded theory identified key motivators perceived to influence job satisfaction of 31 human resource managers or directors across various industries located in the southeast of the U.S. The qualitative design utilized Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory as a framework to categorize intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Interviews were conducted over a five-month period. Data collected was transcribed using Transana and categorized with QSR’s NVivo10 software. Straussian’s open, axial, and selective coding was used to analyze data. The results identified: (Intrinsic) accomplishments of tasks, recognition, career advancement; (Extrinsic) organizational policies/procedures, support from supervisors/colleagues, compensation, and resources, as motivators of satisfaction. Two new theoretical concepts were identified: love for helping people and being able to be actively engaged as a strategic partner were motivators. It was determined that the substantive theory that emerged is based on the individualistic perception of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators from human resource professionals determines how they perceive their satisfaction. Motivators are idiosyncratic based on preferences, experiences, and personality, cannot be generalized for human resource professionals. It is recommended that the motivators identified in this research be further pursued through quantitative statistical analysis to determine their actual impact on human resource professionals