Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Hierarchy of Needs

employees level of need bust be satisfied before moving up to the next level. once a need is satisfied it is no longer effective in motivating the employee

Physiological needs

physiological needs - basic needs such as food, water, air, shelter, and other physical requirements

• providing the employee with a job

• payment for the job

Safety needs

security and protection from physical and emotional harm

• creating job security

• ensuring the employee has safe annd healthy work conditions (OH&S, sexual harassment and bullying policies in place)

• superannuation and insurance

• competent, consistent and fair management

Social needs

love, belonging, affection, affiliation, acceptance, and friendship in peer groups

• friendly work associates

• organised employee activities (e.g. birthday celebrations, meals, parties, sporting activities)

Self-esteem needs

external needs of status, recognition and attention

internal needs of self-respect, autonomy and achievement

• job title and task responsibilities

• good performance management rating

• merit rewards (bonus)

• promotion

• pay linked to status of position

• prestigious workplace facilities

Self-actualisation

ultimate need: personal growth, achieving own potential, s- elf-fulfillment, and using own creative talent

• challenging work allowing for creativity

• participative decision-making

• opportunities for personal growth and advancement

Advantages

• allows management to develop an understanding of individual needs - all employees needs are different

• allows management to be aware that employees will be at different stages of development and they will need to be motivated using a variety of methods

• theory is fairly easy to understand - most managers should be able to make use of it and employees should relate to it

Disadvantages

• every employee may be at a different stage, can be time consuming for a manager to identify what stage each employee is at

• a manager making use of the theory may struggle to identify the stage at what each employee is at

• very simplistic and says one strategy should satisfy one need at a time, but should satisfy more