Abraham Maslow is an American psychologist who introduced the concept of hierarchy of needs in his paper published in 1943 "A theory of Human Motivation". In his theory, he suggested that people have a number of basic needs that must be met before moving up the hierarchy (Cherry, 2023).
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of the best-known theories of motivation. According to Maslow our actions are motivated by certain physiological and psychological needs that progress from basic to complex.
There are five different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
- Physiological Needs: are those that important for survival, like air, food, water, shelter etc. other than these regular needs, Maslow included sexual reproduction since its essential for survival.
- Security Needs: People are looking for control and order in their lives in this stage. Some of the basic security and safety needs include, financial security, health and wellness, Safety against accidents and injury.
- Love and Belonging: Need for emotional relationship, like Acceptance, Love Belonging is included in this stage.
- Esteem: Need to importance of gain the respect and appreciation of other. This stage further includes self-esteem and personal worth.
- Self-Actualization Needs: At the very peak of the hierarchy, at this stage people are looking for self-awareness, concerned over personal growth.
Now let's look at each level of Hierarchy of Needs and how it can connect to Employee Engagements.
Providing adequate and competitive compensation is a necessary retention strategy that helps the employees stay motivated and committed. This is the base of any form of employment, and it is critical that leadership not only recognizes the importance of this, but also acknowledges the need to establish clarity and transparency in compensation and related decisions. This is a critical stage when processing to the next stages.
- Security and Safety Needs
As mentioned on the blog by the Clear Company, employee safety needs job security and a safe work environment. To the modern worker, Security and Safety means not only job security but also a safe working environment and employers who encourage work-life balance. Employees need to feel supported and secure in their positions in order to become more engaged. This also means being more mindful of diversity and inclusion practices, that can help facilitate a more safer work experience for everyone involved.
According to the blog by Clear Company, At this stage when employees feel a sense of belonging at their workplace, when they feel seen and heard, they strongly connect with the organization. Employees who feel belonging has shown to be more engaged and work towards better business outcomes. Belonging should go beyond surface-level initiatives, to create opportunities for employees to constructively engage and influence decision-making within an organization. Companies like Meta and Google also vest shares on their employees, as a form of inspiring belonging. (https://www.metacareers.com/benefits)
As mentioned on the blog by the Clear Company, by now employees feel the progress, safety and the inclusiveness within the organizations. At this stage organizations should make their employees feel valued and make them find meaning in the work they do. When employees find meaning in their work, they put in more effort to the work they do and less like to leave. Hence, promoting autonomy, growth and opportunity, as well as ensuring that the employees are aligned to work they find joy in, can be used as strategies to drive employee retention. (https://uprisehealth.com/resources/boost-employee-self-esteem/)
According to the blog by Clear Company, at the peak of the hierarchy where employees are well engaged within the organization feel a sense of connection to the work they are doing, and they look out for more challenges and aim for continuous improvement. Self-actualized employees are productive, curious, and innovative — more likely to think outside of the box.
List of references,
Cherry, K. (2023) Abraham Maslow is the founder of humanistic psychology, Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/biography-of-abraham-maslow-1908-1970-2795524 (Accessed: 08 April 2024).
Wholley, M. (2023) How Maslow’s hierarchy of needs applies to employee engagement, Talent Management Blog by ClearCompany. Available at: https://blog.clearcompany.com/how-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-applies-to-employee-engagement#:~:text=reach%20the%20top.-,The%20Employee%20Engagement%20Hierarchy%20of%20Needs,esteem%2C%20and%20self%2Dactualization. (Accessed: 08 April 2024).
Good article on Maslow’s Hierarchy. Organizations can create an environment where employees feel motivated, and fully engaged in their roles, by understanding and addressing these various needs within the workplace.
ReplyDeleteYou have nicely related Maslow’s Hierarchy on Employee Engagement. Belonging empowers employees. Every statistic that HR and business leaders want to improve—from productivity and performance to retention and safety—correlates with a strong sense of belonging. The states of being welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected are the five pillars of belonging. The activation of even one pillar doubles the sense of belonging. The state of belonging triples when all five are engaged(Nicolas B,2023).
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shedric, for your valuable input.
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