How Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Relates to Management - Essay Example

? How Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Relates to Management Introduction Management is a broad concept that involves every aspect of organizational function. The accuracy of the obtained results indicates the management’s degree of effectiveness. The traditional way of personal management has given way to broad and collaborated way of knowledge sharing and problem solving. The emergence of the new approach which ensured greater degree of autonomy and independence can be attributed to the development of human psychology. According to the new ‘human management’ approaches, people are no more machines that do not have to decide or choose. In order that people achieve better results, they need to be motivated. Although volumes have been written on ‘motivation’, it still remains to be potential subject for research. Motivation is a better tool for increasing the productivity and shareholder values, provided that it is applied right way right time. In other words, motivation has to do with people's psychology. Managers needed to know what motivates people to work better. In fact there were many questions to be answered. For example, can people be motivated in the same way? Or can managers use the same motivators for the same worker all the time of his or her business career? It is clear that people differ in what motivate them. That is to say, we cannot motivate all people in the same way. For instance, some might be motivated by increasing their salary. Others will be more motivated by giving them more tasks and responsibilities. Others still are motivated by recognizing their contribution and success. Maslow, the American psychologist, was interested in human motivation. He studied the basic foundations of people's motivation. He believed that we cannot motivate people unless we know what they need and how we give them what they need. In work environment, Maslow's contribution has been very important. Managers were required to study the needs of their staff, and plan their management style accordingly. Objectives The objective of this study is to see how Maslow's theory on human motivation has been applied in management. This will be discussed under the following headings: A brief Introduction about Maslow and his Life: Maslow created a visual aid that depicted the levels of psychological and physical human needs in a pyramid shape. The main purpose of this visual representation was to explain his concept of Hierarchy of needs. When a person ascends the steps of the pyramid and reaches the top, he sees self actualization part. The needs at the lower section of the pyramid is most powerful whereas needs at the top of the pyramid is weaker. The basic or lower needs on the pyramid are common to both humans and animals; but, only humans possess higher needs. We can assume that people will exert more efforts to satisfy their basic needs like food, shelter, security and the like. As these needs are met, they will look for other needs even though this time in a lesser degree of motivation. In the higher levels, people will need more motivation from outside. For instance, people do not need to be motivated to look for food when they are hungry. However, when are lazy to do serious activity like studying for example, they need an external motivation like success, getting better options in work life, etc... Maslow called the first four layers of the pyramid as "deficiency needs" or "D-needs". According to the theorist, individuals do not feel any particular emotion if the deficiency needs are met, but feels anxious if those needs are not met. Maslow termed the last layer of the pyramid as "growth needs," "being values," or "B-needs". When the “being needs” are fulfilled, they motivate the individual further. The physiological needs such as breathing, water, food, sleep, sex, homeostasis, and excretion constitute the base of the pyramid. Once an individual meets all his psychological needs, then he focuses on the second level of needs; the need for safety and security. This second layer of the pyramid includes the needs for structure, order, security, and predictability. The elements of love and belonging such as friendship, family, and sexual intimacy constitute the third level of the pyramid. Esteem needs become the central focus in the fourth level and this group of needs requires self-esteem, achievement, confidence, and respect. When an individual fails to meet his esteem needs, this condition may discourage him or cause inferiority. Finally, the need of self actualization is placed at the apex of the model pyramid. In 1970, Maslow restructured his original 1954 pyramid model by including cognitive needs above the need of self actualization and the aesthetic needs at the apex of the pyramid. The cognitive needs refer to acquiring and understanding of the knowledge. At the same time, aesthetic needs represent the need to create and experience beauty, structure, and balance. An overview of Maslow's Theory on Motivation The most influential part of Maslow's theory was his model of the hierarchy of needs, which includes the full range of human motivations. The greater emphasis is given on the concept of self actualization as it is the highest level of human need. According to Maslow, self actualization is "the full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc” (Brockett & Hiemstra, 125). In other words, self- actualization is not a stagnant position but an ongoing process on which one utilizes one's capacities fully, joyfully, and creatively. However, the challenge is that the process will change all the time as needs are changing as a result of many factors such as new discoveries, new technologies, and the like which change the life of people and their needs. Most commonly, people who are straight forward and less emotional are more likely to achieve better stature. Here, we can say that such people do not wait until circumstances lead them. They take the first step and they have more control over their life than other people. In the view of humanistic psychologists, each and every individual has a strong desire to explore his/her maximum potential in order for reaching the level of self actualization. Individuals will always try to achieve something greater rather than merely reacting to life situations, Maslow conducted studies on mentally sound people and argued that people feel better experiences when they are in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. According to him, creativity, courage, spontaneity, and hard work are some of the major characteristics of self-actualizing people. In other words, such people should have a say in what comes about in their life. They will dedicate their whole identity to achieve the goals they set for themselves whether in their personal life or in business. Maslow lists the following characteristics of self-actualizers: 1. More efficient perception of reality 2. Acceptance (self, others, nature) 3. Spontaneity and naturalness 4. Problem centering [as opposed to ego-centered] 5. The quality of detachment; the need for privacy 6. Autonomy; independence from both cultural and environmental influences 7. continued freshness of appreciation 8. Mystic and peak experiences 9. Feeling of kinship with others 10. Deeper and more profound interpersonal relations 11. Democratic attitudes 12. Distinguishing between means and ends, between good and evil 13. Philosophical, not hostile, sense of humor 14. Self-actualizing creativeness 15. Resistance to enculturation; the transcendence of any particular culture (Source: Glassman, 2010, 305) Now, if one tries to apply Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy in the business world, one can see that managers can do a lot to meet the various needs of motivation in employees. Such steps may include compensation plans, role definition, and various other activities in the company. To illustrate, meeting ones physiological needs of motivation can be achieved through paying good salaries, enough time for rest and recreation, and may be a sumptuous lunch. In the case of safety needs, it is evident that job security and a safe working place will be sufficient to meet the needs. Similarly, esteem motivation can be achieved through properly appreciating achievements, and giving important projects. In the case of the so called self-achievers, it is necessary to ensure that the workplace promotes creativity, promotion and innovation. In addition, it becomes evident from his work (Maslow, pp.30-31) that a lack of basic requirements and disorder within the organization can affect the work performance. His major contributions might be summarized in the following two central ideas: 1) Human beings are driven by various unsatisfied needs. The various needs are physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. 2) The achievement of lower level needs or external requirements is necessary to reach higher level motivators. In other words, as far as the external motivation factors are not achieved, one may not tend to satisfy those higher needs. (Source: Montana & Charnov, 239). Implications of Maslow's Contribution in Management According to Mills (2005) there are 5 basic management styles in the US; directive, participative, empowering, charismatic, and celebrity. In fact, the impact of Maslow’s theory on the business environment is profound. The work of Maslow helped the business world have a better insight about the role of motivation in the workplace. In addition, he effectively pointed out how the various physical and psychological needs are to be satisfied and how these various needs are linked to each other. Though there is no scientific evidence so far that supports Maslow’s pyramid of needs, it cannot be denied that most people, at one time or the other, feel the needs as hypothesized by Maslow. Maslow effectively portrayed how the unfulfillment of basic needs will stop employee from growing higher reaching self-actualization. Instead, according to Maslow, (qtd in Koontz & Weihrich, 290), they will try to satisfy these basic needs of life. Thus, evidently, Maslow successfully point out the various needs in employees that are to be fulfilled. However, the idea on motivation should be used with the understanding that different people are motivated by different needs. So, it is unwise to apply the same set of motivational factors for all employees at the same time. Instead, what is required is to understand the needs of each individual according to their individual needs. The examples provided go along the needs that appeared in the hierarchy. On the physiological needs, managers are advised to include elements such as lunch breaks, rest breaks, and wages in jobs design. Also, salary should be suitable to cover basic needs for staff members and meet the requirements of a reasonable life style. On the safety needs layer, mangers are advised to provide a safe working environment, retirement benefits, and job security. Here the talk is about security in the wider sense of the word. It is the physical environment where safety is maintained. This applies to healthy offices or work stations, good lighting conditions, safe electrical installations, alarm systems, ventilation etc. It also applies to security in terms of enough retirement packages where staff is sure that they will have enough resources when they retire. Along the social needs layer, mangers are advised to create a sense of community via team-based projects and social events. In fact there are plenty of options to enhance social elements. For example, team work is not only good for its social benefits, but also for its results in term of achievement and creative solutions for the problems in the work environment. Social events would achieve more that getting staff together, but also it will be reflected on society at large. It will promote more cooperation from social institutions as well. In the case of esteem needs, managers are advised to ensure recognition, especially when there is any achievement. In addition, the social status of the employees should be respected. Admittedly, these two external factors will help improve the self-respect of employees. In fact, some staff is sensitive about job titles even if these titles do not have better salary. Some people may be more motivated by giving them more tasks to do. In fact organizations pay great attention to job titles when new organizational changes take place. Organizations may cut management levels, but they keep job titles because titles help mangers to motivate staff, and decide where cooperation between staff members can take place. On the layer of self-Actualization, mangers are advised to provide employees a challenge and the opportunity to reach their full career potential. Many high qualified staff feels frustrated because they are not given enough options to demonstrate their skills. In fact, this has to do with job planning and review practices. In these reviews, managers have to look where their staff can do better, and why they failed to meet manager's expectations. Some staff members may excel in certain task, and fail in a less demanding task. Such staff may find certain tasks far below their skills, and they get frustrated. The results will be negative. In addition, it is possible that the employees may consider this as a lack of attention towards them. This, in turn, will lead to lack of self-respect and lack of the feeling of accomplishment. Coming back to the characteristics of self-actualizers we can see many chances that managers can make use of to achieve better results for their staff. As self-actualizers people have more efficient perception of reality and more comfortable relations with it, managers should take care of what is called "transparency". This involves providing enough information and allows staff to access all sorts of data required to do tasks. Unless staff are sure that all data can be available, their understanding of reality will be distorted. Self-actualizers are noted for the quality of acceptance of the self, and of others. So, managers need to make use of this and involve staff in team work projects. One of the major problems in team formation is the lack of acceptance among team members. The traits of spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness should encourage mangers to have less control on staff in the traditional way. Such staff are self-disciplined. They do not need more rules and directions. Another feature of self-actualizers is that they concentrate on problem solving as opposed to ego-centered. So, there are better chances for creative ideas. Managers should be open to accept suggestions and initiatives, and arrange for discussion and feedback. Self actualizes like to be detached. They need privacy. So, mangers are advised to make sure offices are designed to provide privacy so that staff can produce well thought of The ones who are self-actualizers prefer to have autonomy and they look for independence in the workplace. This is good for managers who want to delegate more tasks to their staff. As self-actualizing staff have a continued freshness of appreciation, mangers will find them easy to accept change and adapt to it. As is known, in modern organizations change is becoming more and more required to meet new challenges. Many staff members resist change because they do not appreciate it and are satisfied with the current state. Another point is that as the so called self-actualizers believe in deep and meaningful communication, they can be utilized to improve communication in the organization. Communication is an important element, and mangers are advised to invest in these staff members to enhance communication in their organizations. The democratic character structure of the self-actualizing staff needs mangers to be open to different points of view. They should accept opposition, and disagreement as well as approval and agreement. Also, self actualizing staff can discriminate between means and ends. So, managers are advised to concentrate on results and not the means to achieve them. Self-actualizing people have a friendly sense of humor. Managers are advised to create a friendly work environment where people are not afraid to express themselves freely and enjoy a mutual respect and human interaction. In total, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory has been a considerable influence in the area of managerial studies for decades. All other motivational studies followed, relied on Maslow’s concept for further modification or research. Regardless of the varying opinion, all theories tend to converge at employee motivation as their focal point. In other words, the growing concern on HR management can be primarily attributed to Maslow’s motivational theories. Evidently the theory helps managers to design appropriate motivational strategies by identify the varying need traits of each employee. Works Cited Brockett, Ralph G and Hiemstra, Roger. Self-Direction in Adult Learning: Perspectives on theory, research, and practice. London: Routledge, 1991. Print.. Glassman, William E and Hadad, Marilyl Approaches to Psychology, 1st Edn, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. Koontz, Harold and Weihrich, Heinz. Essentials of Management, 7th Edn, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2006. Maslow, Abraham H. Motivation and Personality, 3rd Edn, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1970. Print. Montana, Patrick J and Charnov, Bruce H. Management: Classical management theory, Organizational structures, Human resource management, Work group dynamics, and much more, 4th Edn. New York: Barron’s Educational series, 2008. Print. Mills, D Quinn. ‘Asian and American leadership styles: how are they unique?’, Working Knowledge: Harvard Buissines School, 2005. Web.03 July 2011 Read More