How does Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs influence the motivation of employees?
A recent report published by the (American) Academy of Management suggests that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs or ‘the pyramid’ is what most students remember. Unfortunately, although memories may be accurate, the content presented may have been misleading. Maslow’s focus was not about motivation and behaviour in organisations but about human needs more generally. He was, however, concerned about individual growth and people reaching their potential and how societies act to reduce the creativity in people. Therefore, while his focus was not on maximising productivity for organisations, there are still some learnings from his work that can be useful provided that the unadulterated version of his theory is understood.
For those who have not studied in management or basic psychology classes, ‘the pyramid’ or ‘hierarchy of needs’ suggests that people need to meet their physiological needs, safety needs, social, and esteem needs prior to their need for self-actualisation. In almost every textbook on human behaviour, it is suggested that these needs have to be satisfied in this specific order and that multiple needs are not aroused simultaneously. Moreover, it is often suggested that for an employee to be productive these needs have to be met. Managers are expected to design work and benefits in ways that facilitate employee needs for which they will receive job satisfaction, commitment and organisational performance.
In modern western societies, at least, employment and occupational health and safety laws provide some protections related to many of the needs covered by the first two ‘levels’ of the hierarchy e.g. the focus on a ‘living’ wage and safe conditions in which to work. (Some organisations have taken the safety aspect further by addressing psychological safety with either promises of employment security, retraining or outplacement should jobs no longer be required.)
The social need, which Maslow referred to as love and belonging, is the third level in the so-called hierarchy. Humans are social beings and, for many people, the opportunity to connect with people at work is the major reason for getting out of bed in the morning. There seems to be a strong need to ‘belong’ (to work groups, customers, co-workers, supervisors etc). In fact, the need for connection with others is often cited as a major reason for continuing in employment even once the lower level needs can be satisfied on an ongoing basis (e.g. either through savings, age pensions or whatever means). This social need has been highlighted recently in reports of many suffering from loneliness at work, suggesting that this is something that organisations might address. Work sponsored events such as ‘end of month’ pizza, family outings, office parties, sporting teams etc suggest that organisations are aware of the social need that many people have beyond the normal working day. Some may need to ensure that the range of social activities arranged does not just appeal to the same group of people all of the time while other organisations may find that it would be helpful to the employees as well as the business to create more opportunities for interactions during work time.
The fourth need, that of esteem, relates to the need for respect and approval. Organisations use a wide variety of mechanisms to recognise the accomplishments of employees e.g. from a simple ‘thank you’ to photographs in monthly newsletters, plaques, monetary bonuses, vacations or additional vacation time.
Once the first four needs are met, people supposedly strive for self-actualisation (which is fulfilment of potential). It may be related to training and development opportunities, advancement and creativity. At this ‘level’ employees will perform at their optimal level, thus becoming valuable assets to an organisation.
While there are criticisms in the general motivational literature of Maslow’s approach based on the limited support for only being five recognised needs and the requirement for these needs to be activated in specific order (with lower level needs having to be satisfied before there is any focus on the next level), when Maslow’s work was traced back to its origins it was found that he did not suggest this pyramidal representation at all. He suggested that people move between levels even when one need has not been fully satisfied, and the sequence or order is not necessarily the same for everyone. He did not say that people who are able to focus on the higher levels are better in some way or that the five needs operate in the same way with everyone. In fact, even though there is some resistance to representing Maslow’s theory pictorially, a ladder has been suggested as a better representation of Maslow’s theory. When climbing a ladder a person has feet and hands on a number of different rungs of the ladder at the same time and, if they feel threatened in any way, they may move down the ladder from time to time, just as they might move up when feeling safe.
Firstly, these five needs may not be universal especially in the workplace, and they may not apply in the same way for all cultures. This implies that if peoples’ needs are different then they may need to be managed and motivated in different ways. Because people can be attempting to meet multiple needs at one time, managers need to think how work can be made meaningful to each and every employee. Assumptions should not be made that everyone wants a ‘social environment’ at work or that the employer needsto provide social connections. Some people may be quite happy to arrange their own social connections outside of work and not wish to mix the two. (This does not obviate the need to ensure that an appropriate range of social interaction is designed into jobs and work environments for those who thrive in this context.) Similarly, some people may be far more interested in training and development and career progression than others.
Therefore, in examining what motivates (and de-motivates) employees, managers are encouraged to take what is useful from Maslow’s approach but to also consider other theories such as Equity theory which is about balancing outputs and inputs and perceptions of fairness.
Finally, what this work has highlighted is the problem of simplistic textbook approaches to management without a more thorough examination of the origins and empirical evidence which is what we aim to provide through the HR Resource Centre.
