Maslow's Theory Of Motivation

Motivation is a desire for human needs and wants that encourages individuals to complete a task. These needs and wants push them to fulfill a job in return for a reward that is beneficial to them. Motivation is a key concept to management as it relates to job satisfaction and plays a huge role in workplaces as people are usually encouraged to do work in return for a reward. Motivational theories have been seen to prioritise satisfying the needs of individuals and plays a big role in increasing productivity of the individual. The three theories of needs include McClelland’s need for achievement, affiliation and power, Maslow’s Theory of Needs and Alderfer’s ERG Theory. And these motivational theories have shown to increase the efficiency of

Maslow’s Theory of Needs is structured hierarchically showing the various needs that should be satisfied from lowest to highest in an orderly manner. Its structure starts from the bottom and proceeds to the top with five needs: physiology, safety, belonging, self-esteem and selfactualisation.
The first need is physiology need and it is the most basic need which involves obtaining the basic requirement of food and warmth for survival. It reflects the concept of one’s body automatically requiring a certain matter (Maslow, 1943). Without satisfying the physiological need, all the other needs are insignificant. As stated by Maslow (1943), “…the physiological needs… serve as channels for all sorts of other needs as well.” Once physiological needs have been atisfied, safety needs will come into place and this involves developing a safe environment to be in and obtaining a job that can stabilise the individuals income. Safety needs also includes

Without a safe and stress-free environment, individuals tend to be demotivated and feel unsafe. Once the individuals have settled their safety needs, eventually the need to belong will develop and this is when individuals seek the feeling of acceptance or affection from other individuals. Individuals will start to develop feelings to associate with others by socialising and crave to feel a sense of belonging with them (Maslow,
1943). Organisations can ensure that this need is pursued by implementing social events and community clubs that allows individuals to interact with one another comfortably. By doing this, individuals can feel satisfied in their working environment and productivity will eventually increase. Next, they will start to seek attention for their work and this is where the need for selfesteem forms. At this stage, individuals are motivated when they are acknowledged for their contribution and efforts to their jobs. According to Ball (n.d), self-esteem involves the need for recognition, suitableness and achievement and allows them to feel confident in their potentiality.
Lastly, self-actualisation is the self recognition from individuals as they realise their full