Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Motivation Explained

Introduction

Motivation is a significant factor for success in organizations of all kinds. While different personnel may be effectively qualified and efficient in their work and position within an organization, a sense of objectivity and direction as well as motivation is significant and necessary for eventual success. Different employees within organizations have different personalities and characteristics and are therefore motivated by different things and activities. While some may be motivated merely by the appreciation of their work, others will require a substantial compensation to effectively impact their motivation and attitude towards continuing with the work. Different scholars including (Mark, 2014; Nabi et al. 2017; Shanks, 2015) have significantly been involved in evaluating employee needs as well as the factors impacting their motivation, leading to the development of a wide range of motivational theories that can be effectively applied within workplaces to enhance motivation and increased performances. According to Jesarati et al., (2013) these theories are generally divided into two categories Content theories that focus on what brings about motivation in individuals and Process theories that explain how humans are motivated. Examples of these theories including some that are effectively discussed within the essay include: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, AlderferERG theory, Herzberg two-factor theory, goal theory, equity theory, and expectancy theory.

Maslow’s Hierarchy’s of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory summaries and classifies human basic needs which consequently motivate their actions in five basic categories. The theory, developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 gained traction and was mostly cited in 1940s and 50s. It orders the five basic human needs in a hierarchy often represented by the pyramid beginning with the basic psychological needs at the bottom of the pyramid followed by safety and security, Belongingness and Love, Self esteem as well as Self actualization (Shanks, 2015). According to Nabi et al. (2017) the theory postulates that the lowest unsatisfied need becomes the dominant, or the most powerful and significant need. The dominant need as such effectively activates an individual to act effectively so as to fulfill it. However after its fulfillment it no longer becomes a source of motivation rather the next level of need provides the most motivating factor. Achievement of one level of need automatically shifts an individual’s attention, and they become highly motivated towards the achievement of the next level thereby ensuring a consistency in the motivation of individuals to success.

This theory is highly applicable in modern day corporate industries and organizations given the significant need of motivation and career development for employees within modern day organizations. According to Baroudi, Khapova, Fleisher and Jansen (2018) organizations are increasingly gaining interest in impacting its personnel’s individual career development due to the symbiotic benefits that this has to both the organization and the individual. Through effective personal career development personnel gain effective knowledge experience and understanding of a particular field, becoming a significant asset to the organization especially with regards to information. Westwood (2015) further point out that through facilitating personal career development and growth, organizations gain benefits such as an increasingly productive workforce, expansion of profitability potential as well as improvement of employee motivation.

Employees within such organizations are not only motivated by the gaining of their basic psychological needs like water food and shelter but are also interested in personal career development and self actualization. As such managers within such organization can utilize this theory in effectively motivating their employees to impact increased performance and profitability of the company at all levels of its operation and employee growth. For instance rather than consistent salary increments when employees are satisfied with their earnings, an organization can also indulge other motivation techniques such as enhanced customer welfare to impact their work safety and security. Often times, Appreciation and promotion to indicate to the employee that they belong and they are loved motivates them to work harder and also impact their self esteem as they grow towards self actualization. Employees in such organizations are often satisfied and thus highly motivated, leading to increased performance and eventual success of organizations.

One of the Major Strengths of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is that it provides an effective summary of all the necessary human needs and thus gives managers different ideas regarding ways to effectively motivate their personnel and impact increased success. It also enables managers to better understand their employees based on the level of need they are in and as such better impact employee manager exchange which is significant for organization success. However a significant drawback of the theory is with regards to the levels of needs. Kunchala (2017) clarifies that the theory fails to consider the probability of cultural and individual differences. For instance, Some individuals have been known to value self esteem and self actualization above love and belonging making the theory less accurate in such instances.

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

The Hervberg two-factor theory also refered to as the motivation-hygiene theory classifies human needs and therefore factors for motivation into two major categories: Hygiene factors as well as motivating factors. The theories premise that both of these factors are significant within a workplace to ensure effective satisfaction of employees and thereby enhance their performance. Herzberg’s two factor theory according to Sincero (2018) consolidates Maslow’s theory down to two areas of need that motivate employees: Hygiene factors which include needs to be addressed by a business in order to ensure a pleasant and satisfactory employee experiences at work and may include: salary, company policies, quality of interpersonal relationships, working conditions as well as level of quality supervision. The other area of need is the motivator factors which emerge from the need of an individual to achieve personal growth within a workplace. Effective motivator factors such as challenging/stimulating work, responsibility, sense of personal growth, status as well as opportunity advancement not only lead to job satisfaction, but also better performance at work which eventually enhance an organizations growth and development (Afful-Broni, 2012).

With the inherent issues of global warming, environmental conservation is among the major corporate social responsibility issues not only advanced by companies and organizations but employees, customers and other stakeholders within the contemporary workplace and business environment. As such, employees not only require a clean and conducive workplace to impact their motivation and performance within organizations, but also endeavor to conserve the environment and be part of organizations that prioritizes on environmental conservation as part of their sustainability goals. As such managers in modern organizations can effectively motivate employee performance and effective productivity through the development and ensuring of a clean and effective work places as well as through involvement in environmental conservation and sustainability efforts

Chand (2018) advances that based on Herzberg’s theory the lack of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, as such the removal of dissatisfying characteristics from a job or workplace does not necessarily guarantee job satisfaction. As such in addition to ensuring a clean and effective environment as well as participating in conservatory and sustainability activities, the organization must provide employees with an opportunity for career advancement. Career advancement provides a goal and objective for the work and day to day tasks which in turn motivate employees and significantly improve their performance.

The major benefit and advantage of the theory is that it lays an emphasis on motivation originating from within the employees themselves rather than their environment and external factors. Through development of a satisfactory work environment and providing enough opportunity for personal development, employees find it within themselves to effectively work harder to achieve their set goals and objectives. Parikh (2019) further points out that the theory brings attention to employee issues and problems rather than concentrating on increased salaries as the only motivating factors. The company using this theory can engage in motivating their employees by listening and addressing some of the issues and concerns they may have within the workplace that limit their ultimate best performances.

However the theory has also been linked with significant drawbacks including: focusing significantly on job satisfaction as a means to motivating employees. While a majority of employees may be sufficiently motivated with a satisfying Job, others poses more ambitions and a such require significantly more motivation than satisfaction. Chand (2018) further notes the impossibility of effective measurement of Job satisfaction given that individuals can be satisfied with one aspect of their jobs and entirely dissatisfied by another and still find the job acceptable. The theory in addition is entirely subjective and ignores any external factors in effective employee motivation.

Expectancy Theory

The expectancy theory also known as Vroom’s expectancy theory was proposed in 1964 by Victor Vroom at the Yale school of Management. Unlike Maslow’s Hierarchy theory and Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the Expectancy theory is dependent on the outcome of an activity engaged on by an individual rather than their needs. According to Juneja (2015) the theory premises that an individual’s intensity or tendency to perform a particular task in a particular manner is entirely dependent on the intended outcome to be gained from the performance of the task as well as whether the outcome satisfactorily appeals to the individual. The theory is founded on the basic notion that people will be more motivated for higher effort levels when the expected outcome (Expectation) of the performance will lead to eventual reward.

Chand (2018) highlights three key constructs in the Expectancy theory to include Valence, expectancy and instrumentality. Valence refers to the value or amount of strength one places on an activity in light of an expected reward. Expectancy relates effort to performance and instrumentality is the belief that performance is related to reward. Vrooms expectancy theory points out that individuals are effectively motivated when they possess all the three constructs. According to Mark (2014) individuals within the current working environment will choose how to behave depending on the outcomes they expect as a result of their behavior. For instance an individual will choose to work longer hours and therefore improve on their eventual overall performance if they anticipate an additional pay for extra time worked or a pay rise as a reward of good performance and efficiency.

The perceived likelihood of receiving a reward from increased efforts in a certain venture significantly influences increased morale impacting improved/efficient performance of individual’s respective duties and tasks. Within organizations in the modern business environment employees can effect effective motivation to their employees by offering commissions and bonuses upon significant attainment of set targets and standards of practice. The knowledge of a potential rewards such as bonuses and commissions motivates individuals in marketing departments for instance leading to increased performance and sales within short periods thereby increasing the organizations revenue. According to Badubi (2017) Individuals are more likely to work longer hours if they are in fact promised the reward of a pay rise than if they only assume that there may be a rise. This highlights that an organization management can in fact use certain rewards to motivate employees improved performance and effectively impact on the organization growth and development.

The theories major strength is that it is based entirely on self interest and outcomes rather than needs which are more applicable for individuals who intend to achieve maximum satisfaction. According to Juneja (2015) the end goal of the theory is for individuals to gain the maximum satisfaction from the outcomes rather than suffer the least pain in the quest to achieve ones needs. It is therefore more employees oriented than organization oriented and is likely to effectively succeed in the effective motivation of individuals within a workplace. The theory however also indicates significant setback. It does not take into account the fact that sometimes rewards are not necessarily associated with performance. in the current business environment for instance a wide variety of organization associate the ultimate rewards in terms of salsry to the relevant job skills and level of education that an individual has. Performance as such may not necessarily merit any rewards. In addition performance, effort and value of rewards are sometimes significantly hard to quantify. As such the accuracy of the expectancy theory is not always guaranteed especially with the current diverse workplaces.

Viability

Of all the theories discussed the most viable one in the current business environment is the Maslow’s hierarchy theory. In addition to the fact that the Maslow’s theory considers various human needs which are the basic significant motivators of all actions individuals get involved in including finding and maintain jobs, the theory significantly divides these needs in different categories which organization managers can effectively utilize in developing employee leadership and motivation strategies. According to MacKechnie (2019) Information is a significant currency in the current business environment and as such businesses and leaders with significant information are able to effectively make better decisions that impact increased performance and success.

Given the increased level of diversity among employees in the current business environment (Martin, 2014), employers are tasked with ensuring effective understanding of all their employees and developing techniques of impacting their performance through motivation. The adoption and use of the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs motivation theory as such enables organization leaders acquire effective information about their employees which gives them ideas and strategies for individual employee motivation. Managers can be able to effectively determine the various distinct level of need for which each of their employees are in and develop specifically suited motivation techniques that are guaranteed to be successful.

The significance of personal career development as well as the involvement of organizations in enhancing their employee’s personal career development and self actualization according to Thomas (2018) is another reason why Maslow’s theory is the most viable for the current business environment. As individuals achieve their needs and advance to subsequent need levels, organization managers should be effectively aware so as to apply the most effective motivation technique and enhance continued good performance among all employees. The use of Maslow’s theory enables organizations to determine the different levels of needs for which its employees reach in their path of career development and self actualization thereby leading to development of effective motivation strategies and techniques.

Conclusion

While a significant number of motivation theories exist for which organization leaders can draw from in developing motivational techniques for their employees, understanding employee personality and needs is at the center of being able to effectively enhance their morale. Eventually, the perceived outcome of an activity or performance as premised by the expectancy theory is still based on what the employee is in need of at that particular time. The needs of individuals as such are the most significant aspects of their effective motivation. Through understanding employee needs, a leader can be able to effectively develop successful motivation strategies that consequently impact the profitability and success of the organization.

References

Badubi, R. (2017). Theories of Motivation and Their Application in Organizations: A Risk Analysis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, 3(3), pp.44-51.

Baroudi, S., Khapova, S., Fleisher, C. and Jansen, P., 2018. How Do Career Aspirations Benefit Organizations? The Mediating Roles of the Proactive and Relational Aspects of Contemporary Work. Frontiers in Psychology, 9.

Nabi N., Islam M, Dip TM, Hossain AA (2017) Impact of Motivation on Employee Performances: A Case Study of Karmasangsthan Bank Limited, Bangladesh. Arabian J Bus Manag Review 7: 293.

Shanks N. H. (2015). Management and Motivation. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.