Motivation of Staff Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Motivation of Staff using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory:
The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. However, that’s easier said than done! Motivation practice and theory are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines.
There is an old saying that says you can lead a horse to water but you cannot force it to drink; it will drink only if it is thirsty- so with people. They will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do whether to excel on the workshop floor or in the ‘ivory tower’. They must be motivated or driven to it either by themselves or external stimuli. Out of the different motivation theories we have discussed in class earlier this semester and if I were a supervisor, I would unquestionably implement the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs: physiological, safety, social, ego or esteem, and last but not least self- actualization needs. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. I remember one of the assignments we did in class was about the motivations factors. After evaluating my classmates motivation factors, the ranked order of these factors was as follow: (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j) sympathetic help with personal problems. A comparison of these results to Maslow's need-hierarchy theory provides some interesting insight into employee motivation. The number two ranked motivator, good wages, is a physiological factor. The number three ranked motivator, full appreciation of work done, is an esteem factor. The number four ranked motivator, job
The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. However, that’s easier said than done! Motivation practice and theory are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines.
There is an old saying that says you can lead a horse to water but you cannot force it to drink; it will drink only if it is thirsty- so with people. They will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do whether to excel on the workshop floor or in the ‘ivory tower’. They must be motivated or driven to it either by themselves or external stimuli. Out of the different motivation theories we have discussed in class earlier this semester and if I were a supervisor, I would unquestionably implement the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs: physiological, safety, social, ego or esteem, and last but not least self- actualization needs. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. I remember one of the assignments we did in class was about the motivations factors. After evaluating my classmates motivation factors, the ranked order of these factors was as follow: (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j) sympathetic help with personal problems. A comparison of these results to Maslow's need-hierarchy theory provides some interesting insight into employee motivation. The number two ranked motivator, good wages, is a physiological factor. The number three ranked motivator, full appreciation of work done, is an esteem factor. The number four ranked motivator, job