Recently, the Gallup Poll survey found 55% employees from United States feel they are losing enthusiasm about their jobs (Jones, D, 2001). This figure is astonishing. The managers are trying all kind of methods to improve the employees work motivation. Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organisational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need. (Coulter Mary, Robbins Stephen P. 2003 p.393) Studying motivation is important to managers; they should know that staffs work well and easier to achieve goals if they are well motivated. There are a lot of motivations theories which can be divided into two parts: Early theories, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of need theory, Herzberg’s Motivation hygiene theory and Contemporary theories, including Three- needs theory and Goal-tting theory. In this essay, the author will u examples to describe how a manager might u Maslow’s Hierarchy of need theory to improve performance in work.
Abraham Maslow was a humanistic psychologist who propod that within every person is a hierarchy of five needs. (Coulter Mary, Robbins Stephen P. 2003 p.393) The hierarchy is performed like a pyramid with five levels which are physiological, safety, belo
ngingness and love, esteem and lf- actualization from the bottom up. Maslow parated the five needs into the higher and lower levels. Physiological and safety needs were described as low-order needs, belongingness and love, esteem and lf- actualization were described as higher-order needs. Low-order need is more about externally, like food, water, they are corporeal; and higher-order needs is more about internally, like respect, admire, they are spiritual..
Physiological needs are describe a person who need food, water and the basic things to support survive. As Maslow said: ‘undoubtedly physiological needs are the most prepotent of all needs. A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and esteem would most probably hunger for food more strongly than for anything el. (Maslow, 1943, pp.373-374) Assume one person without money to survive, he will not consider about others respect or building up relationships, he only care about is a piece of bread to live. In a company, employees in this level are working in basic and low level such as cleaners. They are with no educational and unskills, people in this level get low pay, for instance, the national minimum wage. They earn money only to survive. All they are care about is
money for food. If employers want to motivate people in this level, they can improve the working conditions and promi to increa salary steady to motivate workers doing better in their job.
After people have enough to eat, they eking more. ‘It is quite true that man lives by bread alone- when there is no bread. But what happens to man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled? At once other needs emerge and the, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organid into a hierarchy of relative prepotency. If hunger is satisfied, it becomes unimportant in the current dynamics of the individual.’ (Maslow, 1943, pp.375). When people feel satisfied in physiological needs, they are looking for further needs, but it is still in low- order needs. People in this level still with less education and skills; they also only can do some physical force job. Management can offer employees in this level with safe working conditions, have insurance and pension, also get them abnce and illness paid to make them satisfy.
In the middle of the pyramid is the belongingness and love needs (often referred to as social needs). After people satisfied all the needs in safety and physiological needs level, social needs level emerged. The include affection, n of belonging, social activities, acceptance, friendships, and both the giving and receiving of love. (Mullins, Laurie J. 2002, pp.75) In this level, the employees are with good educations and some working skills. They are not just doing basic work like sales in a company. They may work in the basic management level or in the office, but some of them can have chance to meet people in higher levels. Most of people in the level are new employees with educational but no working experience. They fancy build up relationships with colleagues and people higher than them and get affirmation, most of them are planning to move into higher levels. In this level, manager should understand of the people‘s private and social life, not only just their behavior at work, but also encourage them to have more parties and friends.
Maslow obrved that most people have esteem- needs- lf respect and the respect of others. (Boddy, David 2005 pp.489) They are two parts of this need, internal factors such
as lf- respect, autonomy and achievement; external factors such as: status, recognition and attention. (Coulter Mary, Robbins Stephen P. 2003 pp.75) People in this level are with good education, skills and good living conditions such as middle class. Most of them are in the middle level of management. They want others respect to them, regarded in society as a good job, and ek for grade prestige and want have chance to promotion. People in esteem needs level pursue the job title, becau they want society can treat them with respect and admire. If a manager wants to motivate employees in this level, they need respect them, with commend and give chance to them to be promoted. For example, the manager can promi employees in this level, if they can do well in work, they may promote to get high respect.
