Needs-Based Theories of Motivation - Essay Example

Needs-Based Theories of Motivation Before going to discuss three needs-based theories of motivation, let us get a better understanding of what motivation actually is. Motivation means to inspire people to make them achieve their personal or professional goals. In workplace settings, it is extremely important to motivate people to increase their productivity. Williams (2010) states, “Motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an enduring challenge for executives and managers”.

Needs Theory by Douglas McClelland Douglas McClelland presented this theory of needs. The theorist reveals that there are three needs, which affect or shape the behaviors of people. Those needs include need for power, need for affiliation, and need for achievement. Power is another human need. In this world, every person has the desire to influence others in order to control their behaviors and actions but the level of desire to control other individual’s behaviors varies from person to person.

People, who are motivated by power, want to dominate and shape other people’s views and behaviors. The need for achievement is another need of a person to achieve all personal and professional goals. People struggle in their lives to achieve their goals and objectives. Achievement of any type of goal makes people happy and confident. The third need is the need for affiliation. People want to make relationships with other people in order to remain active in the society. People with such needs have constant desire to get respect and appreciation from the society.

An urge for a friendly environment motivates a person to develop sociable interpersonal relationships. Hierarchy of Needs by Abraham Maslow This is a psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow. There are five levels in the hierarchy of needs, which the theorist categorized into deficiency needs and self-actualization needs. The needs in the bottom four layers are known as deficiency needs whereas the fifth layer is known as the stage of self-actualization, which involved personal growth and development.

The first layer of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is related to physiological needs. A person needs to drink, eat, sleep, and breathe in order to survive. Without meeting these needs, people do not struggle for other needs because health of person comes before anything else. The second layer is related to the safety and security needs of a person. People want to be secure financially as well as physically. Although security needs are important for people but their importance is identified after the fulfillment of physiological needs.

Third layer in the hierarchy of needs is related to the social needs. Everyone wants to have some friends, some relatives, and sexual partners not only to get some love and affection but also to participate in all kinds of social and religious activities. Fourth layer of needs in the hierarchy is related to personal worth and esteem. People want to be respected from other people. Self-esteem and self-respect are two of the basic elements of life, which increase the level of confidence of a person.

Fifth or the last layer of hierarchy is related to the need of self-actualization. It is the highest level of needs in which a person is not worried about food or shelter rather all focus is towards progressing to the highest level of life. ERG Theory Clayton Alderfer presented this theory of needs. The theorist groups the needs presented by Maslow into three categories. Those categories are Existence, Relatedness, and Growth. Alderfer groups safety and psychological needs in Existence category, social and growth needs in Relatedness category, and self-actualization need in the category of Growth.

The theorist does not rank the needs. He suggests that a person can have more than one need at a time. He further suggests that difficulty in the fulfillment of one need can regress to some other need. The focus of this theory is that a person’s needs are not restricted to any particular level of need; rather he/she can struggle for more than one need at a time. References Williams, R. (2010). How to motivate employees: What managers need to know. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201002/how-motivate-employees-what-managers-need-know-0