Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Monday, November 25, 2013
As a manager, you know that your people are happier and more productive when their needs are being met. But, how do you know what these are?
You can use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to answer this question, at least in part. Maslow's Hierarchy is one of the most widely known psychological models, and it helps to explain what human beings need to be happy and healthy.
In this article, we'll look at it, and we'll discuss how you can apply it to your team.
About the Model
Psychologist Abraham Maslow published his Hierarchy of Needs (see figure 1) in his 1943 article, " A Theory of Human Motivation ."
Figure 1 – Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
From " A Theory of Human Motivation " by A.H. Maslow. Published by the American Psychological Association, 1943. Reproduced with permission.
Maslow believed that we all have five kinds of need. He presented them as a hierarchy, because, he argued, we need to meet one level of need before we can try to meet the next.
The five levels are as follows:
Level 1: Physiology/body needs.
Level 2: Safety/security needs.
Level 3: Love/belonging needs.
Level 4: Self-esteem needs.
Level 5: Self-actualization needs.
The hierarchy is important for managers because, by meeting people's needs, you can help them be happier, more committed, and more productive at work.
Meeting people's needs goes beyond providing management support, learning and development opportunities, and other work-related benefits. As the model shows, people have more fundamental needs, and it's these that Maslow explored in his work.
Note:
Some scholars have criticized Maslow's hierarchy.
For example, Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede highlighted that the model was based on U.S. research subjects only. This means that it may not be completely applicable to non-U.S. cultures, because these could have different values and norms.
Keep this in mind if you work with a culturally diverse team , or if you manage in another country . Here, you might need to address needs in another order, or you might have to address entirely different needs.
Others argue that different need structures are appropriate, and still others say that there is no requirement to address needs in the order Maslow recommended – some or all can be addressed at the same time.
Using the Theory
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a useful idea to have in mind as you think about how to meet a team member's needs (for example, during a quarterly review).
As a manager, you're instinctively likely to look to salary raises as a way to motivate people in your team. However, you may have a limited budget, and, in any case, a raise may not meet people's more fundamental needs.
Maslow's hierarchy gives you a range of approaches that you can use to build team satisfaction, even if you don't have much money to give out. For example, it often doesn't cost much to provide a safe working environment. It can be inexpensive to have team socials, where people can get to know one another outside the work environment. And it costs nothing to thank people when they do something well.
Let's look at Maslow's levels in detail, and discuss how you can meet your team members' needs at each one.
Level 1: Physiology/Body Needs
Physiological needs are biological requirements such as the needs for clean air, food, water, shelter, and sleep. They form the base of the hierarchy because they are our strongest needs.
It's likely that your team members are able to meet these needs on their own. However, you still need to provide a clean, well-equipped, and comfortable workplace to get the best from your people.
Level 2: Safety/Security Needs
The second stage of the hierarchy focuses on people's need to feel safe. In a work-related context, this includes feeling protected from physical danger, bullying , and harassment.
There's much that you can do to make sure that your people feel safe. First, ensure that you have a culture of safety in your team. Also, assess risks regularly to make sure that you're not asking your people to carry out dangerous tasks.
Next, create a healthy workplace for your team; and look out for sources of workplace stress , such as uncomfortable workspaces or excess background noise, and do what you can to reduce them.
Level 3: Love/Belonging Needs
Once people have met their safety needs, they seek a sense of belonging. Without this, they may feel lonely or alienated.
To satisfy your people's needs at this level, start by building trust inside your team . When people trust one other, they're far more likely to open up and share personal details about their lives. In turn, this can help them build bonds of friendship.
You can set an example by using self-disclosure to encourage people to open up. You can also use team-building exercises , so that people get used to asking one another for help.
Next, help your people develop emotional intelligence . With this, they'll be more able to monitor and understand their emotions, and those of their colleagues. They'll also be able to support one another on difficult days, and deal with negative emotions more effectively.
Last, do what you can to get your team together outside of work. For example, you could schedule a lunch, and encourage people to get to know one another personally.
Tip:
Some people might not want to share personal details with their colleagues, or socialize after work. Don't let this put you off bringing together the people who do.
Level 4: Self-Esteem Needs
At level 4, people need positive self-esteem. This includes the respect that a person gets from others.
Self-esteem plays a central role in a successful team. It affects people's motivation levels, productivity, and their ability to work with others. People with low self-esteem might feel inferior or anxious, they could engage in
self-sabotage , and they may even withdraw from the group.
You'll need to use a personalized approach to strengthening team members' self-esteem, as each person will likely respond in a different way.
First, think about your team members' strengths. Use our article on "Your Reflected Best Self" to work with your people to uncover what they're best at. Then, look for opportunities for your people to use their strengths, and help them build their self-confidence .
These achievements will boost their self-confidence and motivation to keep going. Give praise when they succeed, or when you notice them working particularly hard.
Level 5: Self-Actualization Needs
According to Maslow, self-actualization is the need for people to do what they feel they were "born to do." It's important for managers to guide team members toward their passion; otherwise, people may become dissatisfied or unproductive, and they may even look for satisfaction elsewhere.
First, communicate the true purpose of the work that your team members do. When they understand the deeper meaning behind their work, they'll feel more fulfilled.
Meet one-on-one with your team members. Help them uncover their career goals: talk about what excites them in their work, and use tools such as Schein's Career Anchors , the PERMA Model or the MPS Process to discover what inspires them and makes them happy.
Then, ask about their values and dreams, and work with them to create a career strategy that will help them achieve these. Where possible, encourage your people to use job-crafting strategies to shape their current career, so that it reflects their values, skills, and ambitions.
Use tools such as
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory and Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors to find out what motivates your team members, and build these things into their roles, where you can.
Tip:
Team motivation is a widely researched topic. Read our articles on
Sirota's Three-Factor Theory and Amabile and Kramer's Progress Theory to learn about two other approaches that you can apply.
Key Points
Abraham Maslow explained his classic Hierarchy of Needs model in his 1943 paper, "A Theory of Human Motivation." The model outlines five levels of needs that all human beings have if they're to live healthy, safe, happy, and fulfilling lives. These five needs are:
Level 1: Physiology/body needs.
Level 2: Safety/security needs.
Level 3: Love/belonging needs.
Level 4: Self-esteem needs.
Level 5: Self-actualization needs.
These needs can be represented by a pyramid because, according to Maslow, you can only meet a higher need when you've met lower levels.
As a manager, it's part of your role to meet people's fundamental needs. When you do this, your team will be happier, healthier, and more productive.
Tags:
Skills, Team Management
You can use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to answer this question, at least in part. Maslow's Hierarchy is one of the most widely known psychological models, and it helps to explain what human beings need to be happy and healthy.
In this article, we'll look at it, and we'll discuss how you can apply it to your team.
About the Model
Psychologist Abraham Maslow published his Hierarchy of Needs (see figure 1) in his 1943 article, " A Theory of Human Motivation ."
Figure 1 – Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
From " A Theory of Human Motivation " by A.H. Maslow. Published by the American Psychological Association, 1943. Reproduced with permission.
Maslow believed that we all have five kinds of need. He presented them as a hierarchy, because, he argued, we need to meet one level of need before we can try to meet the next.
The five levels are as follows:
Level 1: Physiology/body needs.
Level 2: Safety/security needs.
Level 3: Love/belonging needs.
Level 4: Self-esteem needs.
Level 5: Self-actualization needs.
The hierarchy is important for managers because, by meeting people's needs, you can help them be happier, more committed, and more productive at work.
Meeting people's needs goes beyond providing management support, learning and development opportunities, and other work-related benefits. As the model shows, people have more fundamental needs, and it's these that Maslow explored in his work.
Note:
Some scholars have criticized Maslow's hierarchy.
For example, Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede highlighted that the model was based on U.S. research subjects only. This means that it may not be completely applicable to non-U.S. cultures, because these could have different values and norms.
Keep this in mind if you work with a culturally diverse team , or if you manage in another country . Here, you might need to address needs in another order, or you might have to address entirely different needs.
Others argue that different need structures are appropriate, and still others say that there is no requirement to address needs in the order Maslow recommended – some or all can be addressed at the same time.
Using the Theory
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a useful idea to have in mind as you think about how to meet a team member's needs (for example, during a quarterly review).
As a manager, you're instinctively likely to look to salary raises as a way to motivate people in your team. However, you may have a limited budget, and, in any case, a raise may not meet people's more fundamental needs.
Maslow's hierarchy gives you a range of approaches that you can use to build team satisfaction, even if you don't have much money to give out. For example, it often doesn't cost much to provide a safe working environment. It can be inexpensive to have team socials, where people can get to know one another outside the work environment. And it costs nothing to thank people when they do something well.
Let's look at Maslow's levels in detail, and discuss how you can meet your team members' needs at each one.
Level 1: Physiology/Body Needs
Physiological needs are biological requirements such as the needs for clean air, food, water, shelter, and sleep. They form the base of the hierarchy because they are our strongest needs.
It's likely that your team members are able to meet these needs on their own. However, you still need to provide a clean, well-equipped, and comfortable workplace to get the best from your people.
Level 2: Safety/Security Needs
The second stage of the hierarchy focuses on people's need to feel safe. In a work-related context, this includes feeling protected from physical danger, bullying , and harassment.
There's much that you can do to make sure that your people feel safe. First, ensure that you have a culture of safety in your team. Also, assess risks regularly to make sure that you're not asking your people to carry out dangerous tasks.
Next, create a healthy workplace for your team; and look out for sources of workplace stress , such as uncomfortable workspaces or excess background noise, and do what you can to reduce them.
Level 3: Love/Belonging Needs
Once people have met their safety needs, they seek a sense of belonging. Without this, they may feel lonely or alienated.
To satisfy your people's needs at this level, start by building trust inside your team . When people trust one other, they're far more likely to open up and share personal details about their lives. In turn, this can help them build bonds of friendship.
You can set an example by using self-disclosure to encourage people to open up. You can also use team-building exercises , so that people get used to asking one another for help.
Next, help your people develop emotional intelligence . With this, they'll be more able to monitor and understand their emotions, and those of their colleagues. They'll also be able to support one another on difficult days, and deal with negative emotions more effectively.
Last, do what you can to get your team together outside of work. For example, you could schedule a lunch, and encourage people to get to know one another personally.
Tip:
Some people might not want to share personal details with their colleagues, or socialize after work. Don't let this put you off bringing together the people who do.
Level 4: Self-Esteem Needs
At level 4, people need positive self-esteem. This includes the respect that a person gets from others.
Self-esteem plays a central role in a successful team. It affects people's motivation levels, productivity, and their ability to work with others. People with low self-esteem might feel inferior or anxious, they could engage in
self-sabotage , and they may even withdraw from the group.
You'll need to use a personalized approach to strengthening team members' self-esteem, as each person will likely respond in a different way.
First, think about your team members' strengths. Use our article on "Your Reflected Best Self" to work with your people to uncover what they're best at. Then, look for opportunities for your people to use their strengths, and help them build their self-confidence .
These achievements will boost their self-confidence and motivation to keep going. Give praise when they succeed, or when you notice them working particularly hard.
Level 5: Self-Actualization Needs
According to Maslow, self-actualization is the need for people to do what they feel they were "born to do." It's important for managers to guide team members toward their passion; otherwise, people may become dissatisfied or unproductive, and they may even look for satisfaction elsewhere.
First, communicate the true purpose of the work that your team members do. When they understand the deeper meaning behind their work, they'll feel more fulfilled.
Meet one-on-one with your team members. Help them uncover their career goals: talk about what excites them in their work, and use tools such as Schein's Career Anchors , the PERMA Model or the MPS Process to discover what inspires them and makes them happy.
Then, ask about their values and dreams, and work with them to create a career strategy that will help them achieve these. Where possible, encourage your people to use job-crafting strategies to shape their current career, so that it reflects their values, skills, and ambitions.
Use tools such as
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory and Herzberg's Motivators and Hygiene Factors to find out what motivates your team members, and build these things into their roles, where you can.
Tip:
Team motivation is a widely researched topic. Read our articles on
Sirota's Three-Factor Theory and Amabile and Kramer's Progress Theory to learn about two other approaches that you can apply.
Key Points
Abraham Maslow explained his classic Hierarchy of Needs model in his 1943 paper, "A Theory of Human Motivation." The model outlines five levels of needs that all human beings have if they're to live healthy, safe, happy, and fulfilling lives. These five needs are:
Level 1: Physiology/body needs.
Level 2: Safety/security needs.
Level 3: Love/belonging needs.
Level 4: Self-esteem needs.
Level 5: Self-actualization needs.
These needs can be represented by a pyramid because, according to Maslow, you can only meet a higher need when you've met lower levels.
As a manager, it's part of your role to meet people's fundamental needs. When you do this, your team will be happier, healthier, and more productive.
