Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 in his paper "A Theory on Human Motivation", still remains to bestow a substantial understanding on human motivation, management training and personal development. The theory is a five-tier model of human needs in a pyramidical alignment, posited assuming the existence of a hierarchical level in needs (Haque et al., 2014).
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 in his paper "A Theory on Human Motivation", still remains to bestow a substantial understanding on human motivation, management training and personal development. The theory is a five-tier model of human needs in a pyramidical alignment, posited assuming the existence of a hierarchical level in needs (Haque et al., 2014).
This is a strict hierarchy, theorizing that an individual is unable to recognize or pursue the next level of needs until the currently required needs of lower levels are completely or substantially fulfilled (Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
Physiological Need
Basic survival needs of an individual such as food, water, shelter and clothes are the core necessities to be fulfilled, in order to climb on to the next in the ladder (Haque et al., 2014).
Implication of Physiological Needs at work places
Most of the well-established Airlines around the world practices provision of apartments/housing, personal vehicles and food allowances to appointed Country Managers, apart from the gross earnings. This posits best practice in the context of human resource management, vividly escalating the motivation levels of the employee. Organization's contribution to elevate employee standards, fulfilling the basic physiological needs as such certainly pitch in the journey of achieving higher goals of employees, which in the long run is beneficial to the organization coherently, manifesting the positive impact of best practice culture on employee motivation. Conversely, some practice adverse best-fit methods to the extreme of charging employees for uniforms during the first year after recruitment (Working at Ryanair: 141 Reviews | Indeed.co.uk, 2020).
Safety Needs
If an employee feels unsafe in work environment due absence of aspects such as physical, environmental, emotional safety and protection, the tendency to settle them prior moving on to the next in the hierarchy pops up. Most predominant are job security, health security, personal security, law and order (Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
Safety needs at workplace
Conspicuous, are few airlines out of the lot, to stand out in motivating employees. Virgin Atlantic offers its employees life assurance, income protection, critical illness insurance, nudge financial education, travel to work loans for employee well-being (Benefits of Working for Virgin Atlantic | Virgin Atlantic Careers, n.d.). An organization incurring the expenses of an employee’s hospitalization in an emergency, be it for an accident or even at pregnancy, the feeling of dignity in belonging to the company is certainly a solid motivational drive.
Social Needs
Emotional relationships drives human behavior such as love, affection, friendship, belongingness in social groups (Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010). Based on the extent to which an employee receives the aforementioned and their different degrees encourages drastic decisions to be exerted in life.
Social Needs at workplace
Annual team building days of Cathay Pacific Airways-CMB, provides its employees an opportunity to rejuvenate possibly any lost relationships amongst colleagues and brings in all together irrespective of designations on to a ground where everyone share experience collectively and the feeling becomes mutual. Cathay Pacific Airways-CMB employees plan weekly meals with ground handling employees of other departments, which helps provide an insight into the teamwork in operations and belongingness.
Self-Esteem Needs
The need to develop fruitful feelings of self-worth, based on internal self-confidence, competence, achievement, freedom, further enriched by aspects like respect, appreciation from external sources (Haque et al, 2014).
Self-esteem needs at workplace
Cathay Pacific Airways Airline recognizes the potential of employee and based on consistent high performance, the employee gets upgraded from an officer to a managerial position, skipping a supervisory role. Extremely rare yet a factual situation where an organization becomes explicitly flexible in going the extra mile in enhancing employee motivation, a minimal investment for increasing organizational productivity.
Self-Actualization Need
Creativity, self-contentment, need for growth and deploying/developing the abilities of oneself to achieve full potential to do what one is best at, speaks well of the self-actualization need(Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
Self-actualization needs at workplace
Providing an opportunity to be innovative would be an ideal way of motivating an employee. An average employee of 3M company came up with idea of inventing sticky note pads and the recognition 3M had made for it, eventually proved to be beneficial globally (Lecture notes). Due to unavoidable circumstances person 'A' chosen a carrier, much different to the natural talent inherited as an Artist, yet paintings are made as exhibition items without expecting profits, to attain the utmost inner satisfaction.
Learning
Maslow's Need theory is certainly the foundation for organizations to apprehend the motivation levels/needs of individuals; in contrast, an employee's journey up on the pyramid from deficiency level to growth level, does makes it difficult for managers to understand where exactly is the employee. This impedes the deployment of correct human resource management practices in place for motivational purpose (Armstrong, 2013).Basic needs should always not required to be satisfied to proceed up to the next step in ladder(Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010) .The needs of people varies from person to person or based on situations(Armstrong, 2013). Basic needs should always not required to be satisfied to proceed up to the next step in ladder(Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010). The needs of people vary from person to person or based on situations (Armstrong, 2013).
Person 'A' above, may lose employment, yet the passion driven practice of painting remains intact.
Owing to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation and resulting job redundancies across the world, the employee of Cathay Pacific who was promoted happened to lose the job. This becomes a serious concern in terms of job security. Unsatisfied fulfilment or absence of this safety need will not impede the employee in building new social relationships; instead, such relationships themselves pitch in to overcome the circumstantial inconvenience/difficulties. Failure of Maslow's Need theory to elucidate similar debates, beseech for a more flexible approach as a tool.
References
Armstrong, Michael 2013, Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice,13th edition, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, accessed 02 November 2020.
Faizul Haque, M., Aminul Haque, M. and MD, S., 2014. (PDF) Motivational Theories – A Critical Analysis, ResearchGate, viewed 04 November 2020.
Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University
Indeed.co.uk. 2020. Working At Ryanair: 141 Reviews | Indeed.Co.Uk, viewed 02 November 2020.
Salanova, A., & Kirmanen, S. (2010). Employee Satisfaction and Work Motivation – Research in Prisma Mikkeli. Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences.
Virgin Atlantic Careers UK. n.d. Benefits Of Working For Virgin Atlantic | Virgin Atlantic Careers, viewed 04 November 2020.
According to Smith & Cronje (1992), the way Maslow’s theory is explained relies on the fact that people want to increase what they want to achieve in life and their needs are prioritized according to their importance. Deriving from the hierarchy of needs by Maslow, content theories of job satisfaction revolve around employees’ needs and the factors that bring them a reasonable degree of satisfaction (Saif et al., 2012).
ReplyDeleteYes, hence it is a strict hierarchy, theorizing that an individual is unable to recognize or pursue the next level of needs until the currently required needs of lower levels are completely or substantially fulfilled (Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
DeleteFrom a motivational point of view, Maslow’s needs theory explains that a need can never be fully met, but a need that is almost fulfilled does no longer motivates (Ajang, 2007). Hence identifying where the employee is on the hierarchical pyramid is essential in order to motivate him/her (Robbins, 2001). However, the most serious limitation of Maslow’s needs hierarchy is its assumption that everyone has the same needs hierarchy (Abbah, 2014).
ReplyDeleteAn employee's journey up on the pyramid from deficiency level to growth level, does makes it difficult for managers to understand where exactly is the employee. This impedes the deployment of correct human resource management practices in place for motivational purpose (Armstrong, 2013).The theory further assumes that all people experience these needs in the same order, failing to recognize cultural and individual differences. In collectivist societies, for example, social needs may be considered more important than physiological needs(Kiviniemi, J 2012) .
DeleteAs with all theories of personality, Maslow’s theory is limited in that it is only a model. It can capture certain facets of an individual’s personality, but it cannot capture individuals wholly. Furthermore, Maslow’s hierarchy provides a basic path for self-improvement. Growth and personal development are hot topics today, and despite the lack of rigorous scientific support, it offers a general framework people can use to better themselves. Originally employment fell into the Safety category, but today Maslow’s hierarchy in business is relevant to the upper levels of the pyramid (Horne 2019)
ReplyDeleteMaslow's Need theory is certainly the foundation for organizations to apprehend the motivation levels/needs of individuals; in contrast, an employee's journey up on the pyramid from deficiency level to growth level, does makes it difficult for managers to understand where exactly is the employee. This impedes the deployment of correct human resource management practices in place for motivational purpose (Armstrong, 2013). Basic needs should always not require to be satisfied to proceed up to the next step in ladder(Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAccording to Armstrong (2014) Content or demand theories produced by Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland, Hersberg, and Daisy & Ryan aimed to identify factors related to motivation. The theory focuses on the content of the motivation in the form of needs. It is based on the belief that an unsatisfied need causes stress and imbalance.
Yes, I agree with your statement on the importance of workplace safety.
ReplyDeleteWorkplace safety needs to be a top priority not only for employers but the employees as well. Miners, or employees who may work in confined spaces, may be at more risk than those who work in open offices, but it is important to ensure that places of employment are safe for everyone involved. However, to make your blog more useful, I suggest you could have included some measures or few steps on how to keep the employees safe.
The greatest value of Maslows need theory lies in the practical implications it has for every management of organisations (Greenberg & Baron 2003 p.195). The rationale behind the theory lies on the fact that it’s able to suggest to managers how they can make their em-ployees or subordinates become self-actualised. But according to Centers & Bgental (1966, .193) in their survey carried out among a cross-section of the working population in Los Angeles, posited “background factors, altitudes and aspirations affects workers needs, ex-pectations and situation assessment”. According to Graham & Messner (1998, p.196) there are generally three major criticisms directed to the need theory and other content theories of motivation. (A) There is scant empirical data to support their conclusions, (b) they assume employees are basically alike, and (c) they are not theories of motivation at all, but rather theories of job satisfaction. This was supported by the views of Nadler & Lawler (1979) in Graham &Messner (2000, p 188).
ReplyDeleteThe needs of people vary from person to person or based on situations (Armstrong, 2013). Basic needs should always not require to be satisfied to proceed up to the next step in ladder(Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
DeleteAccording to Jerome (2013), if a man’s physiological needs are fulfilled by only 25% then there will be no sign of emerging the safety needs. But if his physiological needs are fulfilled to the level of 50% then the emergence of the safety needs could be observed. Therefore, an employee can be satisfied in different percentages in all levels of the hierarchy without even a single level is not 100% fulfilled. Maslow (1954), explains that lower levels should always have a higher percentage of satisfaction than the immediate higher level if he is to be satisfied for a longer period of time.
ReplyDeleteMaslow assumes that there are several prerequisites for meeting these needs. For example, having the independence of speech and expression, or living in a fair and equitable society, is not specifically mentioned in the hierarchy of needs. However, Maslow believes that having these things makes it easier for people to meet their needs. Although Maslow puts forward his own needs in the hierarchy, he also acknowledges that satisfying each need is not a complete or no phenomenon. Therefore, people do not need to fully meet the next requirement in the hierarchy(Goyal, 2012).
DeleteThe Hierarchy of Needs of Maslow is applied in both psychology and industry, and it helps to explain what motivates individuals. The pyramid has five criteria, and a person does not feel above needs according to Maslow's theory until the requirements in the bottom have been met (Jerome, 2013)
ReplyDeleteMaslow's Need theory is certainly the foundation for organizations to apprehend the motivation levels/needs of individuals; in contrast, an employee's journey up on the pyramid from deficiency level to growth level, does makes it difficult for managers to understand where exactly is the employee. This impedes the deployment of correct human resource management practices in place for motivational purpose (Armstrong, 2013). Basic needs should always not require to be satisfied to proceed up to the next step in ladder(Salanova & Kirmanen, 2010).
DeleteAccording to the Bowen et al. (2008), Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is created on the basis, which people stay inspired through the need towards satisfy their desires, as well as asserts which the low-level need should exist contented prior to touch the following advanced level need. After requirement was pleased, it is not anymore, an inducement or stimulus. However, it will significant for conveying, which no individuals are motivated from similar desires.
ReplyDeleteOwing to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation and resulting job redundancies across the world, the employee of a particular organization may happen to lose the job. This becomes a serious concern in terms of job security. Unsatisfied fulfilment or absence of this safety need will not impede the employee in building new social relationships; instead, such relationships themselves pitch in to overcome the circumstantial inconvenience/difficulties. Failure of Maslow's Need theory to elucidate similar debates, beseech for a more flexible approach as a tool.
DeleteYes Asitha, first of all, the motivational system is meant to meet all the employees` needs and the motivation defines set of states of the individual’s needs that require to be satisfied and therefore pushes, incites and causes the individual to perform a series of actions in order to satisfy them(Bitner, 2010).
ReplyDeletecompetitive business world talented employees are considered as key resources and retaining them in the organization is the major challenge in the global market (Chaitra.M.P & Murthy,2015). Turnover of employees is one of the challenging issues of modern business because employee is the soul of an organization (Khan, 2014). During the recent past there was significant labour drain seen in the hospitality industry in Sri Lanka (“Sri Lanka Tourism Sector, 2013).To over come these issues , need to motivate employees in a new way.Lawrenceand Nohria (2002) propose the “human drives” theory, which states that employees are guided by four basic emotional drives that are a product of common human evolutionary her-it age: the drives to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend.The researchers survey a financial service giant, a leading IT services firm and 300 Fortune 500 companies and find these four drives led to high levels of engagement, satisfaction, commitment and a reduced intention to quit, and ultimately better corporate performance.
ReplyDeleteYes Madura, It adjoins the conventional theories to recast a much extensive theme with aspects like neuroscience, biology and psychology as measurements in play and in bargain (Clark and Dumas, 2016). Studies of this theory, as per Lee and Raschke (2016), based on the templates and blended with conventional theories manifests the existence of four drives (drive to acquire, bond, comprehend and defend), innate in human nature which are recognized to be the foundation of employee motivation.
DeleteIt shows how the drive to acquire gets fulfilled by reward systems; drive to comprehend gets satisfied by Job design; drive to defend by Performance management & resource allocation process and finally the drive to Bond is satisfied by organizational culture.
According to Maslow leaders need to know the level of a person on the hierarchical pyramid in order to motivate him/her. Then leaders need to focus on accomplishing that person’s needs at that level (Robbins 2001).
ReplyDeleteThis is the core for organizations to apprehend the motivation levels/needs of individuals; in contrast, an employee's journey up on the pyramid from deficiency level to growth level, does makes it difficult for managers to understand where exactly is the employee. This impedes the deployment of correct human resource management practices in place for motivational purpose (Armstrong, 2013).
DeleteTo achieve higher service quality and employee productivity organizations must develop an encouraging work
ReplyDeleteenvironment where employee contribution in problem solving and achieving organizational goals is appreciated.
Simon and DeVaro (2006) found that companies can motivate their employees by officering good salaries,
organizational culture and growth opportunities. By motivating employees towards their work companies can
enhance their employee’s productivity resulting as improved services and products to satisfy customer’s demand.