Applicability of Maslows Need Theory in Engagement and Motivation of Employees - Coursework Example

Applicability of Maslow’s need theory in engagement and motivation of employees Introduction Motivation is considered as a crucial part in management of people. It requires a good understanding of why people work, that is, what makes one want or not want to be engaged in the workforce. Motivational theories are very important in evaluation of what drives people to work especially through explaining the behaviours of human (Antomioni, 1999). Another concept that influences motivation of employees is psychological contract. Psychological contract is also influenced by the perception of the employees on the organisational justice as well as the company’s HRM ethics. The motivation of employees needs to be maintained especially due to the current rapid changes in the organisations (Rousseau, 1995). Draft (2003) emphasises that the motivation of employee affects the organisation’s productivity and in turn the company’s profitability. Thus, the role of the manager is to ensure that there is channelling of motivation towards to the achievement of the goals of the organisation. Motivation theories are classified into two: content theories and process theories. Mullin (2002) defines content theories as the ones that really motivate the behaviour of an individual, they define the attitude of employees, like needs of the employees and what to do in order to satisfy these needs. These theories include; Maslow’s theory of hierarchy needs (1943), the two factor theory of Herzberg (2002), and McCelland’s theory (1961). Process theories address the way behaviour is initiated and sustained. They include Vroom’s theory of expectancy (1964) and Adam’s theory of equity (1965). Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory has significantly contributed to organisational behaviour and management, in particular, the motivation of employees. This theory led to incorporation off the need theory in current working environment (Mullin, 2002). Maslow (1943) classified the needs of human into five categories which are arranged in form of hierarchical importance. First one is physiological, then security, belongings, esteem and finally, self-actualisation. He states that employees are usually motivated by these needs but they first need to satisfy the lowest needs (psychological) and later continue satisfying higher level needs. However, given that the original Maslow’s need theory was presented back around 50 years ago, there are many theories that came after. But this theory remains significantly important since other theories investigating the motivation of employees mostly base their argument on Maslow’s theory. This has become necessary due to the current globalisation trend, more fulltime and part time jobs, labour turnover demands which require the companies to continuously evaluate their strategies of motivation (Wiley 1997). The purpose of this paper is to focus on the application of Maslow’s need theory in engagement and motivation of employees. One of the challenges in this paper is that secondary data that is already collected other researchers has been heavily relied upon. The focus on this theory of motivation is because most of the motivational theories are based on modification of Maslow’s theory. Thus, analysing the current literature will lead to identification of gaps which will provide direction on suggestion of future research. Literature review Maslow’s need theory Maslow (1943) believed that one must first and foremost be motivated in order to satisfy physiological needs. This means that given that the employees are unsatisfied, they will be motivated with an aim of fulfilling their physiological needs. After the employees’ physiological needs are satisfied, the need will no longer be the primary motivation factor because the employee will move up to seek for satisfaction of security needs. At this time, the security needs becomes the primary motivational factor. This process will continue in a hierarchical manner until the satisfaction of self-actualisation needs. According to Helepota (2005), understanding of this theory becomes simple since it is clear that if an employee is ill or too hungry to work, his or her contribution to the productivity of the organisation will be minimal. This means that satisfaction of these needs is essential for motivating the employee with an aim of achieving organisational goals. In his theory Herzberg (2002) also found links between satisfaction with motivation and performance where he sees performance as originating from feelings which are related to satisfaction and motivation. Such feelings include advancement and achievement among others. Application of Maslow’s need theory in the organisation Maslow’s need theory’s greatest value can be realised through its practical implication in organisational management. This theory suggests on how the managers in the organisation can make their employees self-actualised. This is because if the employees become self-actualised, they will be in a condition to work at their maximum creative potentials (Stredwick, 2000). According to Maslow (1943), achievement of this stage means that the employees will focus on self-actualisation as the primary focus of motivational. In order to reach at this productive stage, the organisation can help employees meet these needs using the following motivational strategies; recognizing the accomplishment of the employee, provision of financial security, provision of activities for socialisation, and promotion of a healthy workforce (Mullin, 2002). According to Wiley (1997), recognition of the accomplishments of employees will serve as the best way to satisfy their esteem needs. This means that doing things such as rewarding in alignment with the goals of the organisation will be a good motivator. For instance, in a research that GTE Data services carried out in Florida, employees that developed ways of improving the performance of the business or the satisfaction of the customer were awarded. This served as an effective way of enhancing self esteem given that the awards are linked to the desired behaviours (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). Financial security is also important because motivation of employees in an organisation requires them first to be financially secured. This can be achieved by involving the employees in organisational sharing of profit (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2001). Socialisation is one of the motivational strategies that will make employees to have a feeling of the spirit of team work. This is due to the fact that employees who work as a team have the tendency of increasing their performance (Livingston, 2003). For instance, Greenberg & Baron (2003) carried out a research on IBM and found out that the employees were motivated by holding a family day picnic near the company’s headquarters each spring. This really motivated employee to work together as a team and in turn, it lead to increased productivity. Promotion of a healthy workforce in an organisation can be achieved by keeping the physiological needs of the employees through provision of incentives. In this way the incentives will keep the employees healthy in health and mentally (Linder, 1998). Research conducted at Hershey Foods Corporation, a company in California found out that employees with healthy lifestyles were offered insurance rebates while the employees with risk habits such as smoking were provided extra premiums. In this way the company enhanced a healthy workforce as a strategy of employee motivation (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). Critics of Maslow’s need motivational theory According to Greenberg & Baron (2003), this theory did not receive great deal of support in relation to its proposition on specific notions. They state that Maslow supported the difference between growth needs and deficiency needs, but indicated that not every employee in the job is able to satisfy his or her high order needs. Thus, higher level managers are capable of satisfying both their deficiency and growth needs while lower managers are only able to satisfy their deficiency needs. Graham & Messner (1998) identified three criticisms to the need theory of motivation. First, the conclusions of the theory are supported by scant empirical data. Secondly, they assume that employees in an organisation are generally alike and finally, they may not be motivational theories, but job satisfaction theories. Nardler & Lawler (1979) in Graham & Messner (2000, p. 188) also supported these views. They argue that various unrealistic assumptions in regard to employees are made in this theory. The theory assumed in general that: all situations are alike; all employees are alike; and there is only one way available in order to meet the needs. However, regardless of the criticism made in the hierarchy of Maslow’s need theory, I believe that this theory has strongly contributed to organisational management and behaviour. In particular, the area of motivation of employee remains to be attractive to managers and researchers. The involvement of the need theory in the contemporary working environment can be associated with the contributions of Maslow’s hierarchy need theory. Recommendations for future research There is a need for additional research in order to gain a continuous view, knowledge and insight of what motivates employees in their jobs in order to achieve the best performance. Even after more than 50 years of research, that is, since Maslow’s need theory (1943), the motivation of employees is still one of the challenges and problems that face contemporary organisations. In addition factors such as globalisation, retrenchments and advances in technology among others expose the employees to uncertain futures. This is due to the fact that the current organisations do not guarantee their employees a life employment as it previously was. Therefore, more research needs to be done in regard to employee surveys in order to determine what makes the employees motivated. This will help the employees to successfully advance in their workplaces. Conduction of such research ensures that organisations are at the same level with the changes in the preferences of employees. Conclusion Maslow’s need theory of motivation has greatly contributed to the engagement and motivation of employee. This is because it has been used as foundations where the original need factors have been modified over the years. Based on the criticisms from different critics on Maslow’s need theory, it is clear that a commonality can be reached. The commonality in these researches is the agreement that some factors are more important than others as motivational factors and these factors usually change from one employee to another. However, with the advancement in technology and globalisation among others, there is a need for future research in order to have a continuous knowledge and insight of the motivation of employees. Word count: 1673 References Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange, cited in Advances in experimental social psychology, 2, 267-299, new York Academic Press. Antomioni, D, (1999). What motivates middle managers?, Industrial Managment, 41(6), 27-30 Draft, R. (2003). Motivation in organisations: management, London: international thompson Business Press. 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