Role of Maslow Hierarchy of Needs in Employee Appraisal - Essay Example

The Role of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in Employee Appraisals Introduction No doubt, appraisals can help motivate employees. Most people appreciate the time their supervisor spends discussing their work, as well as praise for good performance; just hearing the supervisor's viewpoint can be motivating. Employees also tend to put forth the greatest effort in the areas that get appraised. Therefore, by rating employees on the kinds of behavior it considers important, an organization encourages them to try hard in those areas and keeps skilled workers in the firm. In a 1998 survey of information technology workers, more than 80 percent of those who responded said that receiving feedback and having individual development plans were among the top factors that would make them less likely to leave their firms (Johnson, May 2001). When we talk about motivation, Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" comes forth as one of the more known theories that explain the roots of motivation. His provocative ideas about motivation, self-actualization and synergy have become the basis of some familiar concepts to many managers, management theorists and trainers. His humanistic approach to management has influenced fields as diverse as counseling, health care, education and marketing. Maslow's Theory Fact is that Maslow actuated a serious investigation as he delved deeper in the human psyche to study the roots of motivation. In his fervent and unrelenting investigations, he carefully studied human behavior and delineated five basic goals of that every human need. By level of importance, he identified the needs as physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization. One could infer in this proposition that it is the task of each human being to achieve his or her own concept of self-actualization. Physiological - As humans are classified as living beings, physiological needs definitely are the most basic and of prime importance in the list of human needs Maslow enumerated. Physiological needs are necessary to maintain life, like hunger, thirst, sleep and many other human activities that involved the palpable human body itself. Safety - After physiological needs are met eventually, humans seek a sense of security from danger and deprivation, that's where safety needs come into picture. Love and Esteem - After physical needs are satisfied, humans as social beings desire companionship, camaraderie and the sense of belonging. Love and esteem are the emotional need that nourishes the human psyche in order for a person feel better about himself or herself. Self-Actualization - This describes the need for self-fulfillment, an urge of individuals to attain their dreams and goals in life for self-development, creativity and job satisfaction. Maslow steadily moved ahead from his peers upon formulating a new explanation of human nature. Its foundation was his radical theory of motivation, which has come to be known as the "Hierarchy of Needs". He passed up a great argument that people have needs for physiological, safety, belongingness, love, self-respect, self-esteem and what he called self-actualization-the desire to become all that a person can become in life. Maslow adds that if in the past lower level needs like physiological and safety needs are just the things the management rewards to its people to ensure protection and sustenance to his family, as society advances to contemporary times, in order for management to be effective they have to satisfy the higher needs too. In Maslow's articles published in 1942 and 1943, he summed up his theory as: It is quite true that man lives by bread alone-where there is no bread. But what happens to [our] desires when there [is] plenty of bread and when [our] belly is chronically filled At once, other and higher' needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate [us]. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new and still higher' needs emerge, and so on. This is what we mean by saying that basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy.... (Sheldrake, 1996 p. 353) Although Maslow's theory has been a tremendous breakthrough, the initial interest gathered only modest attention in the academic and business institutions. Notwithstanding the value of his expectations grew much stronger, Maslow delved into exploring the traits of self-actualizing men and women, insisting that only by studying emotionally healthy, achieving people, one could fully understand our true nature and potential of humans. In 1954, he then produced more ground-breaking propositions in his book Motivation and Personality. This time he identified clearer arguments and findings in his investigations about human behavior: The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative than on the positive side. It has revealed to us much about man's shortcomings, his illnesses, his sins, but little about his potentialities, his virtues, his achievable aspirations or his psychological health. It is as if psychology had voluntarily restricted itself to only half its rightful jurisdiction.... We must find out what psychology... might be, if it could free itself from the stultifying effects of limited, pessimistic and stingy preoccupations with human nature. (1970, p. 63) Maslow finally got the recognition he needed for his excellent theories. His book Motivation and Personality catapulted him to international prominence. The book was widely acknowledged as a major psychological achievement of the 1950s. The ideas he conveyed in the Hierarchy of Needs and self-actualization began to penetrate other areas of studies, particularly in the still-developing field of management theory. To many people interested in psychology and its practical applications in everyday life, Maslow's name began to stand for an innovative and his positive approach to human nature. Maslow's theories began to draw influence on other people wherein they used his theories in their area of expertise. Douglas McGregor, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was among those first influenced by Maslow's work. McGregor's landmark book, The Human Side of Enterprise, published in 1960, highlighted two distinct managerial perspectives: Theory X, which views people as inherently lazy and selfish, and Theory Y, which regards them as innately productive and cooperative. In outlining Theory Y, McGregor clearly subscribed to Maslow's optimistic view of human nature. (Tosi and Mero, 2003 p. 72) In addition, to observe his theories done into practice, Maslow was asked to oversee an actual application of his theories at Non-Linear Systems (NLS), a high-tech company based in California. Its owner-entrepreneur Andy Kay structured a functional work environment around Theory-Y principles. Employee creativity, cooperation and self-direction were encouraged as much as possible. There was a strong emphasis on employee training and growth on the job. Teams of line workers helped determine daily work schedules and activities. (George, 2000 p. 109) The results of the experiment were quite unpredictable: As absenteeism and turnover plummeted, the productivity of the people and profits soared in NLS. Maslow rationalized the results as that NLS and its supporters were just too readily embracing his ideas. But fact is, the intention of getting higher profits was met and the people were happier in doing their jobs. In both cases, the company and the people benefited after accomplishing the test drive of his theories. During his stint at the NLS, Maslow engaged much time on the study about the psychology of leadership and developing methods to improve employee motivation. Again, he published his new findings in 1965 through a manuscript published as Eupsychian Management. Maslow termed "eupsychia" as the ideal society or organization. Maslow remained realistic in dealing with the humanistic approach that depended partly on favorable conditions and that a sudden downturn in the international economy or domestic markets might make the principles of enlightened management unachievable (1971, p. 44). After his uneventful death in 1970, Maslow was heralded as a founder of the rapidly growing movement to humanize the workplace. He left another theory as legacy and called it "Theory-Z" approach to management. His intention was a follow up new concepts beyond McGregor's Theory-X and Theory-Y dichotomy. In "Theory-Z", Maslow deliberately expounded that neither X nor Y is really accurate, theorizing that as people grow towards self-actualization, their psychological needs at work undergo a corresponding change (Tosi & Mero, 2003 p. 85). Salary increases alone, for example, don't mean much to those propelled by higher needs. The chance to be creative and autonomous becomes increasingly important as a job motivator. A psychic income could well explain why volunteers keep on doing their jobs just for loving what they do and that's much compensation that they need. The compensation Maslow is referring to here is termed as "meta-pay." This prompted engineers, executives, Peace Corps volunteers and others to contemplate a belief that "meta-pay" and similar concepts were tacitly being recognized and implemented in the American workplace. Maslow's theories are considered today as a classic because these provide a practical and understandable scenario of how management should be done. He categorized the needs, from the basic physical requirements to higher ones of self-actualization, and hierarchically structured them in order of importance. The concept of having to satisfy them in ascending order is suitable given a stable world order where organizations provide employees with a basic level of satisfaction in security and in conditions as a platform for progressing towards higher levels of fulfillment. In the other side of the fence, many experts are deeply scrutinizing the holes of Maslow's theories. Some say it is not applicable in all scenarios, as former resources director of South Bank Center Ewart Wooldridge asserted in an article titled "Time to Stand Maslow's Heirarchy on its Head" He based his arguments upon of experience referring to Maslow's models did not work in most occasions. Woolridge then furthered how their company fared in the 1990s on a wave of unparalleled transformation: As we put our organizations through processes of downsizing, delayering and derecognition, the simultaneous exhortations for teamwork, empowerment, partnership and vision came across as somewhat hypocritical. If all this empowerment was happening, where was Maslow's self-actualization What was actually happening for so many employees was a widening gap between the rhetoric of empowerment and the increasingly insecure and unrewarding reality of work. (1995, p.17) In perspective, Maslow has already prepared answers to those who will question his propositions. In 1968 upon reviewing concepts in Transpersonal Psychology, Maslow called to attention to the limitations of his humanistic model. In exploring the farthest reaches of human nature, he found that there were possibilities beyond self-actualization. When "peak experiences" are especially powerful, the sense of self dissolves into all awareness of a greater unity. The term self-actualization did not seem to fit these experiences. Moreover, some researchers have argued that different types of organizational experiences provide different types of incentives for their employees-motivation in church settings is different from motivation in factory settings, for example. Clark and Wilson (1961) proposed three such incentives: materialistic incentives, or tangible rewards; solidarity incentives, or intangible rewards derived from the act of association; and purposive incentives, which are intangible rewards associated with the goals of the organization. They further argue that different people are motivated by different incentives. That is, motivation is not necessarily structured hierarchically; rather, motivation is a matter of personal preferences and personalities. A father can be drowning but still be motivated by concern about the welfare of another family member, for example. Clayton Alderfer (1972) attempted to deal with the problems in Maslow's model with a variation he called the ERG theory. Alderfer agreed with Maslow in the value of distinguishing between different types of need and with the need to distinguish generally between lower and upper level needs, but he felt that strict hierarchy and prepotency (the precedence of lower over upper level needs) were indefensible. Alderfer's model collapses Maslow's five needs to three: existence, relatedness, and growth (hence ERG). Existence needs are those that are related to survival; relatedness refers to the need for social relationships; and growth needs are concerned with personal development. Alderfer conceptualized each of these needs as a continuum, thus basic satisfaction of a given need simply intensifies desire for more satisfaction (needs are never satisfied and people don't move from need to need). Further, like Clark and Wilson (1961), Alderfer argued that different people jump into the needs structure at different places-some seek growth, for example, even when their physical needs are largely unmet. Conclusion Today, most human resources managers attempt to answer the motivation questions by developing performance appraisal systems to objectively evaluate employees according to set criteria. Such systems promote fairness because their standards are usually job-related. This is because ultimate goal of performance appraisals is not to judge employees but rather to improve their performance. Thus, managers want to motivate their employees to perform better. Bovee, Thill and Schatzman (2003) recommended that performance reviews should be an ongoing discipline-not just a once-a-year event linked to employee raises. Periodic performance evaluations are especially important in today's project-driven, results-oriented workplace. Employees need fast feedback so they can correct their deficiencies in a timely manner. Most companies require regular written evaluations of each employee's work. To ensure objectivity and consistency, firms generally use a standard company performance appraisal form to evaluate employees. The evaluation criteria are in writing so that both employee and supervisor understand what is expected and are therefore able to determine whether the work is being done adequately. Written evaluations also provide a record of the employee's performance, which may protect the company in cases of disputed terminations. Indeed, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs could answer the needs of the Human Resources profession of how to effectively motivate their employees. Abraham Maslow contributed much, not just in the areas of management and psychology, but also in various areas of study as well. The Hierarchy of Needs is a universal concept because it summarizes human behavior to be as basic as the necessity that goes beyond any culture, gender or religion. These Hierarchy of Needs, which are enumerated as the physiological urges (hunger, sleep, sex, etc.) must be met before psychological needs. Basic psychological needs are safety (stability, order), love (belonging), esteem (self-respect, recognition), and self-actualization (development of capacities). All these needs go hand in hand; that's why in some cases, the granting of these needs may not be the panacea to problems that involve "un-ideal" management conditions. References Bovee, C. L., Thill, J.V., Schatzman, B.E. (2003). Business Communication Today. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall George, J.M. (2000). Essentials of Managing Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Hoffman, E. (1988). Abraham Maslow: Father of Enlightened Management. Training Magazine. September 1988, pp. 79-82. Johnson, C. (2001, May). Employee, Sculpt Thyself with a Little Help, HR Magazine, pp. 60-64 Maslow, A. (1970) Motivation and Personality, New York: Harper & Row. Maslow, A. (1971). The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, New York: Viking Press. Sheldrake, J. (1996). Management Theory from Taylorizarition to Japanization. Boston: International Thomson Business Press. Tosi, H.L. and Mero, N. 2003. The Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior: What Managers Need to Know. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Wooldridge, E. (1995). Time to Stand Maslow's Hierarchy on its Head People Management. 1(25): 17. Read More