MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF
NEED THEORY ON BUSINESS / ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEED THEORY
ON BUSINESS / ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING
The hierarchy of human needs outlined by
Maslow is one of his most enduring contributions to
psychology (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). Maslow postulated,
based on his observations as a humanistic psychologist, that there is a general
pattern of needs recognition and satisfaction that people follow in generally
the same sequence. He further theorized that a person could not recognize or
pursue the next higher need in the hierarchy until her or his currently
recognized need was substantially or completely satisfied, a concept called
prepotency (Joseph, 1997).
Maslow’s model has been studied in various
disciplines:
01. In
business it is approached as a model for understanding motivation (Benson and Dundis, 2003).
02. In
the social sciences including adult learning, psychology, sociology and
education, it is used as a model for understanding the needs of
individuals (Benson and Dundis,
2003).
03. Regardless
of the discipline, it has been and continues to be used for understanding what
the driving forces are, or what is important to individuals (Benson and Dundis, 2003).
.
Figure
1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Pyramid
(Kenrick et al., 2010).
01. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
These are biological needs which consist of the
need for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They
are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, it is
these physiological ones that would come first in the person's search for
satisfaction. (Jerom, 2013). A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and
esteem would most probably crave for food more strongly than for anything else
(Stephens, 2000). The premise is that unless an individual’s basic needs
have been met, higher levels in the pyramid are of no relevance, as survival is
the most basic human component. When the basic survival needs have been met.
With regard to the business / organizational
setting the first basic level that must be satisfied is that of wages. Maslow
posited that if individuals are, in their minds, fairly paid, they will not
spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about their salaries (Maslow,
1970).
Conversely, if an individual does not believe
that he/she is being paid a fair wage, too much time will be spent contemplating
this perceived inequity and other work concerns will not be given the attention
that might be required. There is a correlation between the traditional model
and that found in the work environment. Basic survival needs must be met with
wages which in turn provide shelter, food, water, heat, and clothing.
I work for a leading engineering Organization in
Sri Lanka provide basic allowances are as
01. Attendance
allowance
02. Travelling
allowance
03. Three
meals for the workers
04. Company
housing loan facilities on lower interest rates
05. Welfare
loans and
07. Drinking
water filters allocating throughout the work premises on free of charge
09. Annual
bonus and Profit bonus according to the profit generated.
List of References
List of References
Benson, S. and Dundis, S. (2003). Understanding and motivating
health care employees: integrating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, training and
technology. Journal of Nursing Management, 11(5), pp.315-320.
Jerom, N. (2013) Application of the Maslow’s
hierarchy of need theory; impacts and implications on organizational culture,
human resource and employee’s performance, 39(45)
Joseph E. Gawel, (1997) Herzberg's theory of motivation and
Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Practical Assessment,
Research & Evaluation, 5(11)
Maslow, A. H. (1970a). Motivation and
Personality. New York: Harper & Row
Stephens, D.C. (Ed.) (2000).
Good read. In addition you have mention that the theory is applicable to organizational orientation and employee motivation (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). They further argue that the theory is able to suggest how managers can lead their employees or subordinates to become self-actualized. This emphasize the importance of having proper training in an organisation. with the effects of having proper training employees and subordinates are be able to gain passive knowledge about the tasks to be achieve and drive organisation to success.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lasitha and agreed to your valuable comment and this is valuable not only for the organization but also for whole country. The positive effects of employing high-performance work practices are not limited to companies operating in the United States. The positive economic benefits of using high-commitment work arrangements have also been observed for organizations operating in other countries, including Germany (Bilmes, Wetzker, and Xhonneux 1997), Korea (Lee and Miller 1999), Japan (Ichniowski
Deleteand Shaw 1999), and the United Kingdom (Wood and Menezes 1998).
Hi Ruwanga, it’s good that you have mentioned that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represents part of an important shift in psychology. Yes it’s true, motivation is directly connected with psychology; I accept it. Employees, in fact in general ‘people’, always deal with their needs. Therefore as you mentioned in your blog, from the organizational point of view motivation is a factor which describes the productivity of an organization. That much it’s important for an organization. In here I like to mention the individual reward system which results the motivation. According to Jerome (2013), managers must clearly lay out a proper system of rewards which motivates an employee to climb the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy. It will indirectly results a higher productivity for the organization.
ReplyDeleteYes Vayanga I agree with you since The needs and motivation of employees become the primary focus of managers (Bedeian, 1993).
DeleteWell presented blog ruwanga. Non recognition, promotion restrictions, inequitable appraisal procedures and low remuneration are the main cause for the demotivation of employees Elaboration of the theory is marvelous . Explanation is sound and managed .The presentation of Maslows Hierarchy theory to express the employee enthusiasm in a attractive manner
ReplyDeleteMaslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential ( Gans,2018).
Thank you for your views Shantha and yes indeed the Maslow's theory emphasizes on basic human needs in a psychological point of view. and taken as a reference most firms are motivating their employees based on the theory for better performance and productivity (Armstrong 2006).
DeleteHi Ruwanga, a great discussion about a Maslows need theory . It is known that there are motivated employees under all excellent achievements and success of the organization (Gignac & Palmer, 2011). Therefore it is paramount in understanding the value of motivation and create a culture in the organization which gives always productive and quality results (Sekhar et al., 2013). Motivation is directly links with individual performance and eventually contributes to organizational success (Sekhar et al., 2013). Internal motivation and external motivation factors cause to effect the employee motivation. In fact there may be negative effect on employee internal motivation if there is long term application of external motivation (Benabou & Tirol, 2003).
ReplyDeleteHi Samanthi!
DeleteThanks for your valuable comments on my blog. Yes as you said employee motivation is one of the key factors in organizational success. Motivated employees are highly engaged and involved in their work and jobs and are more willing to take responsibility (Shahzadi et al, 2014).