Outline Maslows Hierarchy of needs - Essay Example

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Section # of In this paper the main points and outline of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs will be discussed and its application in an office environment that would help the managers to deal their employees efficiently will be elaborated. MASLOW’S HERARCHY OF NEEDS Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory coined by Abraham Maslow in 1943 in one of his papers ‘Theory of Human Motivation’ however this theory was fully expressed in his book ‘Motivation and Personality’ in 1954. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often represented in the form of a pyramid with the most basic needs placed at the bottom and the concept and need of self actualization is located at the top of the pyramid. The four layers that are placed at the bottom are termed as deficiency needs or d-needs by Maslow; they are physiological, security, friendship, love and esteem. Maslow claims that if the security, friendship, love and esteem needs are not fulfilled the human beings become restless and remain in an anxious condition. The five components of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are mentioned below: Physiological Safety Love/ belonging Esteem Self Actualization Physiological Physiological needs are those which are essentially vital for the survival of human and without which they simply would not be able to function properly. This includes: breathing, food and homeostasis. The components of air, water and food are essential for the survival of all human beings including animals. Clothing and shelter are the second important components that provide protection and sexual desire is shaped with the growing age of humans however humans can still survive in case this need is not fulfilled. Safety Needs As the physiological needs are satisfied, safety needs take superiority and control their behavior. In this the human beings require that they should be provided with such an environment in which the prevalence of uncertainty and unfairness are rare and fairness and justice prevails. The safety needs further include; personal security, financial security, health and well being and safety measures against accidents, illness and their after effects. (Miller, 2010) Love and Belonging The need of feeling loved and belonging arises as the former two needs are fulfilled. This is usually expected from the following relationships; friendship, intimacy and family. Humans bear with them the desire of loving and feeling loved. This love can be a from a large social set such as office, club, professional organizations, religious gatherings, or small social groups which encompasses friends, acquaintances, intimate partners etc. hence the need of belongingness needs to be fulfilled either sexually or non sexually. Esteem Every human being bears within himself the need to be respected and valued. Maslow has pointed out two types of self esteem; higher and lower. The lower need focuses on the need to give respect to others including status recognition, popularity and attention. However the higher need demands self respect majorly need for strength, self confidence, freedom etc. Self Actualization Self actualization can be defined as the need that rests inside human beings to become what they are actually capable of. In this, the person feels the desire to identify and recognize his potential and channelize it in the right direction. (Maslow,1999) IMPLEMENTATION OF MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS AT WORKPLACES Maslow’s theory can be implemented at work places for better motivation of employees and to build a compatible and collaborative environment. This theory provides opportunities to managers and leaders to motivate each employee in their own style and whatever suits them the most. Physiological Motivation: Provision of sufficient breaks for lunch and convalescence and ample salaries that allow them to purchase the basic essentials of life. Safety Needs: Maintenance of a job environment that enables employees to transfer their best efforts. This includes building an ambiance that is free from threats, safe and provides job security. Social Needs: Generate an aura of friendliness, acceptance and belongingness at the work place by focusing on the importance of team building. Esteem Motivators: Acknowledgement of the performance and achievement of workers and employees, assigning them various challenging tasks that would bring out their inner capabilities and skills and later on providing them with proper feedback and comments so that they can analyze and judge their work. Self Actualization: Provide the employees with such tasks and assignments which would encourage them to utilize their innovative and creative skills and their progress should be effectively measured in compliance with long term goals. While applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory at workplace, managers need to be very careful in identifying the needs and demands of different employees because every individual is different and his aims and style of working varies with his personality. There is a need to identify the stage at which the employee stands. According to Maslow, an employee’s emphasis at the initial stages is to acquire lower order needs of physiology and safety and security. They will be more inclined towards physiological needs in a way that they will be interested in knowing their wages and unwavering income and also the fulfillment of their security needs such as incentives and a friendly and safe work environment. The managers need to focus on these areas and provide the employees with stable salaries that would fulfill their personal and family needs. Employees whose lower needs are not fulfilled will not be satisfied with their jobs which would consequently result in the decline of the organization’s performance since they would not be in a position to provide their best services and would decide for jobs on the criteria of job compensation, stability and security concerns. In such a situation, the managers are obliged to deal and implement difficult organizational decisions effectively and humanely. Careless implementation of such decisions will result in the uncertain and threatened behavior of the employees. (Ferrell, 2006) Once these needs are accomplished, the employees will require their love and belongingness needs to be catered. Communication with the managers and the higher heads can also prove to be helpful in meeting and complying employees’ social needs. Employees who are not clearly informed about the organization’s goals and future plans often feel left out and consider themselves as outsiders in the organization. To avoid this issue, the managers need to build interpersonal relations and effective communication patterns in the office; rewards can be set for employees who play an active role in the ongoing activities at the workplace. This will encourage even the hesitant and introvert workers to participate and cooperate with their acquaintances. The next step would be to meet the higher levels of employer needs that are needs of self esteem and self actualization. Esteem needs are associated with the employee himself i.e. he has the urge to build and maintain a positive image of himself and also to give respect and recognition to other employees. Even if the employee does not wish to reach the management level he would still not want to carry on with the same work for years, he would rather want to be appointed and selected in project teams, be in charge of a special task, gain knowledge about other duties and expand his work responsibilities and duties. The manager should identify and recognize these needs and make efforts to cope with them. This would include designing cross training programs, job enrichments and other special and tasks that would prove to be rewarding for the employees. Secondly in order to meet the self esteem needs of the employees, the manager should involve them in taking organizational decisions so that they feel the importance and integrity of their job and role in the organization. Finally rewards including job perks, incentives, business cards, well organized office and a nice workplace are efficient methods to enhance the employees’ self esteem. Rewards that are coming from the office or are rewarded on the completion of some specific task should be balanced so that the effect can be maximized. (Carol, 2000) A soon as the self esteem need is accomplished, self actualization need is born. At this stage, the employee would want to grow and develop his own self. He may want to take up a challenging task and complete it or wish to study further, increased liberty for direction and meeting the organizational goals without being instructed from the upper management. At this level it is quite difficult and critical for managers to cater the employees’ self actualization needs. Normally managers deal with this situation by providing an environment which enables the employee to meet his self actualization needs. CONCLUSION Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs has faced a lot of criticism but it has proved to be quite effective in identifying and recognizing the needs of human beings. It proves to be very efficient foe managers and assists them in a number of ways to come at par with the employee and organizational needs. This theory has competently defined the various stages of needs tat human beings go through and hence it can be used at a number of places to effectively build a cooperative and stable relationship. BIBLIOGRAPHY Carol. B. (2000) The Implementation of Technological Change. Queen’s University. Industrial Relations Centre. Ferrell. O. (2006) Business: A Changing World. McGraw Hill. Maslow. A. (1999) Motivation and Personality. India. Pearson Education. Miller. F. (2010) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Alphascript Publishing. Read More