In simple terms, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow is a theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an individual’s behavior (Cao et al., 2013). It states that humans are motivated to fulfill their needs in a hierarchical order and this order begins with the most basic needs and moves on to more advanced needs (Cao et al., 2013).
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology that consists of a five-tier model of human needs as shown in the below diagram, from the bottom to the top: Physiological, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self-actualization. It is often shown as hierarchical tiers within a pyramid (Mcleod, 2018).
Figure 03: Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
Source: (Mcleod,
2022)
The need at each level has precedence over the need at the
next higher level in this hierarchy of needs. Individuals must attend to
lower-level needs before they can attend to higher-level wants, such as
physiological needs receiving sufficient satisfaction for safety needs to
arise, safety needs receiving sufficient satisfaction for love and belonging
needs to emerge, and so on (Mathes, 1981).
Although Maslow presented his needs into a hierarchy, he also recognized that fulfilling each need is not an all-or-nothing proposition, and that people do not need to totally satisfy one need before moving on to the next in the hierarchy (Hopper, 2020). Maslow even claimed that most individuals have only partially satisfied each of their needs at any one moment, and that the needs that are lower on the hierarchy are often the ones that people have made the most progress towards (Hopper, 2020).
Despite the fact that everyone is capable of and desires to climb up the ladder to the greatest degree of self-actualization need, due to failures to fulfill lower level needs, this smooth upward movement is frequently disturbed. Because of this, not every individual will go through the hierarchy of needs from the lowest to the highest level; some may shift between different sorts of wants (Mcleod, 2018).
Based on many of Maslow's observations as a humanistic
psychologist, he postulated that there is a pattern of needs recognition and
satisfaction that people follow, generally in the same sequence and in this
book he introduced his theory about how people satisfy various personal needs
in the context of their work (Gawel, 1996).
Maslow sought to consolidate a wide amount of knowledge on
human motivation, when prior to this, many other researchers were
generally focusing on other elements such as biology, success, or power to
explain what energizes, guides, and sustains human behavior (Huitt, 2007).
Maslow proposed this five-stage hierarchy of needs based on two categories: deficiency and growth needs. Each of the lower level wants must be satisfied before going on to the next higher level within the deficiency needs group and these deficiency needs are claimed to motivate people when they are not satisfied, and they originate as a result of deprivation (Huitt, 2007). The urge for growth needs does not begin when something is missing. It all starts with a desire to grow as a person, and once these needs are satisfactorily met, a person may be able to reach the summit of the hierarchy, the self-actualization need (Mcleod, 2018). The first four levels of the hierarchy, from physiological to esteem requirements, are frequently referred to as Deficiency needs as mentioned in the below Video 03, whereas the highest level, self-actualization, is referred to as Growth or Being needs (Mcleod, 2018).
Video 03: What is Maslow’s Pyramid? What is the Hierarchy of
Needs?
The five-stage hierarchy of requirements model is being
discussed in more detail below, along with examples of how the needs are met
according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in the Banking Institution I work for
which is a leading Bank in Sri Lanka.
1.
Physiological needs are biological necessities for human
existence such as air, food, water, shelter, and clothes. If these requirements
are not met, the human body will not operate efficiently. This, according to
Maslow, is the most significant need out of all the others (Mcleod, 2018). Bank Employees are provided with
salary plus additional
forms of cash incentives and non-cash incentives. Cash incentives are in the form
of bonuses, allowances, cash reimbursements, company shares, insurance and
medical schemes, pension schemes, monetary incentives, lending facilities under
concessionary interest rates and more. Non-cash incentives are in the form of flexible
work hours, office mobile phones and devices, company vehicles and drivers,
hotels and bungalows for a concessionary charges to spend vacations, leave
entitlement, wellness and healthcare programs, and more.
2.
Safety needs develop only when physiological
needs have been met to a reasonable degree. Job security, security, health,
financial security, and safety wellness are all part of this degree of need
(Research History, 2012). Bank Employees are provided with Job security at any
given time which is secured by a lawful agreement signed by the employee when he/she
joins the bank. At the end of the stipulated probation/ contract time period,
the employee will secure a permanent position at the bank. Further, the bank
holds the responsibility of the employees while inside the office and follows
all required safety measures including fire drills and they even provide transport
to and from work subsequent to the break out of the Covid 19 pandemic so that
the employees are safe guarded minimizing their association with outside
personnel while travelling in public transport. Furthermore, the bank has
facilitated Working from Home Arrangements, BCP- Business Continuity Plans and
Split Operations to safe guard the employees.
3. Love and belonging needs emerge when physiological and safety needs have been met.
Friendship, closeness, trust, acceptance, receiving and giving affection and
love are all examples of social needs at the third level of the hierarchy of
human needs (Mcleod, 2018). The Bank frequently
arranges Socialization/ Employee engagement activities apart from work related operations,
such as parties, multi-cultural events, trips and even foreign tours. Further, the
Bank hosts trainings, meetings, knowledge/ experience sharing sessions and
certain work and non-work challenges to staff which eventually build up team
work and gives the employees a sense of belongingness to a team.
4.
Everyone in society has a need or desire for a steady high appraisal of
themselves, Self-respect, Self-esteem,
and esteem of other people (Research History, 2012). Maslow further divided this need for
self-esteem into two categories: self-esteem and the need for respect from
others (Mcleod, 2018). The bank identifies Best
performing and Best customer serving employees and appreciate them among the
other team members and reward in terms of gifts and awards. Moreover, Performance
appraisals are also conducted quarterly or half yearly. Furthermore, every
individual is respected, even the janitorial staff and gender equality is
maintained.
5. Self-actualization is the greatest degree of need or the last to accomplish after achieving all the others. It encompasses needs like realizing human potential, self-fulfillment, personal progress, and peak experiences (Mcleod, 2018). As per Maslow, achievement of self-actualization is very rare, and some of his examples of famous self-actualized individuals are Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Mother Teresa (Hopper, 2020).
Maslow noticed that, based on the
individual differences and external environment circumstances, the order of
needs might be flexible like for example, for some individuals, esteem need
might be more important than the love and belonging need while for some others
it may be the other way round (Mcleod,
2018).
Maslow also suggested that there are
several prerequisites to be prepared to meet the needs and he believed that
having these prerequisites make it easier for people to achieve their needs
(Hopper, 2020).
References
Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L., Li, H., Liao, X. and Chen, Z. (2013), "A Maslow's hierarchy of needs
analysis of social networking services continuance", Journal of
Service Management, 24(2), pp.
170-190. [Online] Available at https://doi.org/10.1108/09564231311323953. Accessed on 2nd May 2022
Gawel, J. E. (1996) Herzberg's Theory Motivation and Maslow' Hierarchy
of needs. 5(11). pp. 1-3 [Online]. Available at https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&context=pare. Accessed on 2ndMay 2022
Happiness
com (2017). What
is Maslow’s Pyramid? What is the Hierarchy of Needs? [Online] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IETlvTNWhPg.
Accessed on 2ndMay 2022
Hopper, E. (2020) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explained.
[Online] Available at http://www.christianworldmedia.com/client/docs/603_1585079540_17.pdf. Accessed on 2nd May 2022
Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs. Educational Psychology Interactive.
[Online] Available at https://www.rlifiles.com/files/en/2015_Grad_F.pdf. Accessed on 2nd May 2022.
Mathes, E. W. (1981). J Humanistic
Psychology. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS AS A
GUIDE FOR LIVING.
21(4). pp. 1-4 [Online] Available at https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1177/002216788102100406.
Accessed on 2ndMay 2022.
Mcleod, S. (2018). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. [Online]
Available at https://canadacollege.edu/dreamers/docs/Maslows-Hierarchy-of-Needs.pdf. Accessed on 2ndMay 2022.
Mcleod, S. (2022). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. [Online]
Available at https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.
Accessed on 2ndMay 2022.
Research History (2012). Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs [Online]. Available at https://www.researchhistory.org/2012/06/16/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/.
Accessed on 2nd May 2022.
Hi Gimhani, I agree. Jerome, N. (2013) has stated that for Organisations that seek to obtain success and excellence application of Maslow’s theory is very important and if the application of the theory is ignored it will negatively effect to the organizational culture, human resource management, employee performance, achieving organizational excellence, create good atmosphere and better work environment and achieving targets at the right time.
ReplyDeleteHi Nilushi. Thankyou for the comment. Maslow's human needs pyramid, first introduced in 1943, has become one of the most cognitively contagious concepts in behavioral research. Employee job satisfaction is largely influenced by motivational variables. As a result, organizational performance will improve.
DeleteEmployee motivation produces high productivity throughout time. A motivated employee is a valuable asset who adds value to a company by growing the business and increasing income (Kaur, 2013).
I concur with you Gimhani ,Maslow developed a five-stage theory based on human beings' basic physical, biological, social, and psychological requirements. The theory divides individual needs into categories and prioritizes their fulfillment.
ReplyDelete2013 (Jerome).
Hi Maheshani. Agreed. The need level is a clear dividing point within the hierarchy in terms of the locus of the source of need fulfillment: for the lower half of the esteem stage and those needs below, need fulfillment is accomplished outside the person, either through manipulation of objects in the environment or interpersonal contact (Armstrong, 2010).
DeleteHi Gimhani.Maslow's point of view is very helpful in understanding the needs of the staff and determining how to meet their needs. His theory suggests that managers to recognize that deprived needs may have a negative impact on attitudes and behaviors, as well as providing opportunities to meet demand. May have a positive incentive effect(McGrath and Bates, 2017)
ReplyDeleteHi Chulanga, Agreed. Further, the implications for managerial actions become clear when the need hierarchy theory is applied to work organizations. "It is the responsibility of managers to create an environment in which employees may reach their maximum potential. Failure to create such an environment might possibly raise employee dissatisfaction, leading to reduced performance, lower job satisfaction, and increasing disengagement from the company" (Steers and Porter, 1983).
Delete