0 a feature of a job that will make a worker unhappy if it is not provided, for example fair pay or comfortable working conditions:
1 something connected with a job that may not make an employee feel satisfied, but that will make them feel unhappy if it is not provided, for example fair pay, respect from other workers, or pleasant working conditions:
Hygiene factors have to be addressed by management to prevent dissatisfaction, but will not, by themselves, create a well-motivated workforce.
Hygiene factors are things like having a sufficiently warm office.
As an industry we are spending far too much time talking about what are, essentially, hygiene factors.
"Customer focus" has become a loudly acclaimed hygiene factor for business.
The benefits of new technologies tend to become hygiene factors as a new product category begins to mature.
