A need can be defined as a requirement for an individual’s survival and well-being (George & Jones, 2012) and as they offer a simple and straightforward interpretation of the subject, most of the research done on motivation have been based on Need Theories of motivation (Arnolds & Boshoff, 2002).
One of the most renowned and widely referred to need-based theories of motivation is the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In his most celebrated piece of work, American psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943 proposed that human beings have five types of needs they strive to fulfill, which are physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs and that the drive to satisfy these needs is the motivation.
Figure 1.0: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
(Source:
Harrigan & Commons, 2015)
Maslow depicted the theory in the form of a pyramid with 5 levels (Sandhya & Kumar, 2011). These levels were organized in a hierarchical fashion according to importance with the most basic, powerful needs, physiological and safety needs, at the base of the pyramid. Accordingly, the needs that are not yet satisfied act as key motivators while the needs at the bottom levels of the pyramid are said to take priority over the ones at the upper levels (Campbell & Pritchard, 1976)
Elaborating further, Sandhya &
Kumar (2011) states that the most critical needs for an individual to
survive, such as breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping and procreating, all
fall in to the category of physiological needs and that if these needs are not
satisfied, it usually leads to a reduction of focus on the work. Safety needs
occupy the next level of the pyramid and includes safety & security, health
& physical wellbeing, family, financial security, employment and ownership
of assets and it is only upon the satisfaction of the physiological needs one
will consider and work towards fulfilling their safety needs.
They go on to explain that belongingness
needs are at the next level and involves the need for family, love, intimacy, friends,
and an overall sense of acceptance and belonging. In this backdrop, the importance
of not allowing employees feel alienated at the workplace comes in to
consideration and companies should have mechanisms in place to help ensure
employees feel accepted and a part of a larger group. This will help decrease
anxiety, insecurity, stress, and other negative factors and ultimately help
increase employee performance.
Esteem needs are at the next
level and they establish these needs stem from the need for recognition and
results in feelings of prestige and status. When employees reach this level,
they experience a sense of fulfillment and confidence and their sense of
importance increases along with the sense of achievement. Alternatively, when
these levels are not reached, employees tend to feel inferior and discouraged, which
will ultimately impact their performance.
Self-actualization needs, they explain, are the highest level of needs and occupy the top of the pyramid. These needs relate to the growth and self-actualization needs of an employee, having achieved the full potential of their personal life and career. Employees want to attain the highest possible level in their job and Maslow argued that these needs have a profound effect on their motivation. In addition, Maslow went on to add another two levels to the pyramid in 1970 - Aesthetic needs and Cognitive needs. The former highlights the individual’s need to create and experience beauty while the latter focuses on the need to gain knowledge and understanding.
According to George & Jones (2012), only
one level of needs motivates behaviour at a given time as it is not possible to
bypass a level and go to the next one. Once an employee satisfies one level of
needs, they will want to satisfy the next level and this becomes the focus of motivation.
Maslow also argued that once a need is fulfilled, it ceases to be a source of
motivation. Employees have different needs they try to satisfy and something
that motives one employee might not motivate another. Organisations can employ
the hierarchy to understand what motivates employees by recognizing the needs
that drive their motivation. Table 1.0 below describes how an organisation can
help meet or satisfy these needs accordingly, which will improve employee
motivation and ultimately help the organisation achieve its goals and gain competitive
advantage.
Table
1.0: How the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are met or satisfied in an
organisation.
(Source:
George & Jones, 2012)
References
- Arnolds, C.A. & Boshoff, C. (2002) Compensation, esteem valence and job performance: an empirical assessment of Alderfer's ERG theory. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(4), pp.697-719.
- Campbell, J.P. & Pritchard, R.D. (1976). Motivation theory in industrial and organizational psychology. Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, 1(63), p.V130.
- George, J. M. & Jones, G. R., (2012). Understanding and managing organizational behavior, 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp.161-2.
- Harrigan, W. & Commons, M. (2015). Replacing Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy With an Account Based on Stage and Value. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 20, p.24-31.
- Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), pp.370-96.
- Sandhya, K. & Kumar, D.P. (2011). Employee retention by motivation. Indian Journal of science and technology, 4(12), pp.1778-82.
Good content. Also, Almost no motivation theory in the history of management has been as effective as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This theory put forward by Maslow argues that humans are motivated not by external motives such as reward and punishment but by the internal needs program. In other words, needs underlie the motivation of an individual (Adair, 2013).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Manomi. McLeod (2007) states that every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization and unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower level needs.
DeleteAgreed with you Nelushan, Maslow's point of view is very helpful in understanding the needs of the staff and determining how to meet their needs. His theory suggests that managers to recognize that deprived needs may have a negative impact on attitudes and behaviors, as well as providing opportunities to meet demand. May have a positive incentive effect(McGrath and Bates, 2017).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Shermila. Just to add a point of interest, Maslow makes no reference to gender differences in his theory of basic human needs. However, in preceding studies, females tended to score higher on the Belonging subscale than did males (Saunders et al.,)
DeleteAgreed & furthermore, Abraham Maslow depicted that in order to advance to the next level of psychological development, a person must satisfy himself or herself in all aspects, regardless of where they currently exist. Human life characteristics are satisfied when they can access psychological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization processes throughout their lives. Many organizations used this theory to keep their employees motivated. (Jain, et al., 2019)
ReplyDeleteTo add further to your comment Farhan, the theory holds that lower order needs (ie, physiological & safety) have a higher priority over higher needs, although a person may be motivated simultaneously by needs from more than one level (Saunders et al.,)
DeleteWhile agreeing to your content Nelushan, as per McLeod, S., 2007 Maslow's hierarchy needs five stages can be divided into two stages as deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels are deficiency needs, and the top level is known as growth or being needs.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your comment Dileka and thanks. In addition, McLeod (2007) explains that negative life experiences, including divorce and loss of a job, may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.
DeleteGreat article about the most talked about motivational theory. Even though, it has not been verified by empirical research Maslow's hierarchy has an intuitive appeal and has been very influential. But to add on to this like many other theories it also has its own criticisms. the theory has been under criticism for its apparent rigidity - Priorities vary depending on the person and it is also difficult to accept people's needs progress steadily up the hierarchy. Interestingly, Maslow himself has expressed doubts about the validity of a strictly ordered hierarchy. (Michael Armstrong, 2006)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. According to Wahba & Bridwell (1976), the most problematic aspect of Maslow's theory is dealing with the concept of need itself. It is not clear what is meant by the concept of need and whether it has a psychological and/or physiological base. Further, whether a need comes in to existence only because of deficiency or does need always exist even if it is gratified and how can we identify, isolate and measure different needs, as there is ample evidence that people seek objects and engage in behaviour that are in no way related to the satisfaction of needs.
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