MASLOW'S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY
Content Approaches
Every employee , working in any organisation , has certain needs and goals that he wants to achieve . He has s certain degree of strength to achieve those goals that can satisfy his needs . These factora motivate an employes to work harder at his job . Some of the well - known motivational content theories are Maslow's Need Hierarchy , Herzberg's Motivation Hygiene Theory , and Alderfer's ERG Theory .
According to conten theories , there is always one best motivating technique that can commonly be used for all the employees . The content theories mainly focus on the need of the employees and their motivating factors . Thus , these theories are very useful for the managers because by using them managers can motivate the workers accordingly and thereby , increase the organisational productivity .
Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory
Human beings have categorised their needs into two types - first one is basic ( primary ) needs , which are essential for the survival of the human beings and second one is acquired ( secondary ) needs , which are leas important as compared to basic needs . Though there are numerous needs or desires , but which one should be given priority is the important question . So , this question was answered by Abraham Harold Maslow through his theory which represents a hierarchy of needs . Need hierarchy theory mainly emphasised on following points :
1) Human beings are those animals whose desires never end . They always need some or the other things to satisfy themselves .
2) Once a need is satisfied , it stops motivating an individual further .
3 ) Depending upon the importance , needs have a certain order .
According to Maslow , need hierarchy has following sequence :
1) Basic Physiological Needs : Basic requirements of an individual such as food , shelter , clothing , air , water , etc. , are considered as basic physiological needs . Since these needs are essential for the survival and sustainability of human beings , hence , these needs are prioritised and placed at the initial stage of the Maslow's need hierarchy theory .
2 ) Safety and Security Needs : After the fulfilment of basic needs , human beings expect safety and security of themselves as well as of their family These securities are in the form of job security , insurance ( life insurance , vehicle insurance , etc. ) , old age security ( pension , retirement fund , etc. ) , and security of income In simple words , an individual requires an assurance in order to maintain his standard of living .
3 ) Social Needs : Social need is a kind of cognitive requirement of human beings . When this need is not met , it creates a lot of imbalance in the mind of an individual which adversely affects his health . Since man lives in a society , he socialises himself by interacting with other people , share his feelings with others , making friends , etc. That is why , it is said that the community and culture of an individual reflect his identity .
4)Esteem Needs or Ego Needs : Egoistic needs are of two types , i.e. , internal and external . Self - confidence , self - motivation , skills , abilities , competency , etc. , are some of the factors that are based on internal egoistic needs and are earned after an immense hard work by an individual . Individuals having inward esteem needs always receive ' earned gratitude ' by the society . External egoistic needs focus on building goodwill and status of an individual that is earned by achieving some higher position or if the individual becomes financially , socially and politically powerful .
5) Self - Actualisation Needs : It is a stage of self - fulfilment in which people realise their highest potential self - development in a unique or creative way . In simple words , these needs individual's life . Once all the needs of an individual are met , he searches out for personal achievement that considered as aim of an gives mental satisfaction to him . Individual having the need for achievement wants to become better than others , takes challenging tasks in order to demonstrate his potential and becomes successful which not only satisfies him but benefits the society as well .
As per Maslow's need theory :
1 ) There exist five levels of human needs that he requires to satisfy .
2 ) These needs are organised according to their preferences , i.e. , most important to least important .
3 ) Once a need is satisfied , it is no longer a motivator , and hence , the individual proceeds towards next need .
4 ) After the fulfilment of one need , the next stage of need evolves as a depressed need that an individual tries to satisfy .
5 ) Though the basic physiological needs and security needs are limited and can be satisfied easily but the other three needs are unlimited and have a great influence on the individuals working at senior levels .
6 ) All the five levels of Maslow's need theory are mutually dependent on each other as all of them have some common characteristics . An individual can move on to the next level of need , only after satisfying the previous need . Each level of need affects the behaviour of an individual that motivates him to move further .
7 ) The first two needs , i.e. , basic and safety needs , are considered as lower order needs and remaining three . i.e. , social , egoistic and self - actualisation needs , are considered as higher order needs .
