How effective are the motivational theories of Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg in today's workplace? Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory can be effective if used appropriately. Each of the five levels of Maslow's hierarchy can be applied to today's organizational structure as each level applies to all inside and outside of the organization.
In order to satisfy the first two levels, physiological and safety needs, an organization could provide lunch and break periods, a comfortable working environment, and safe working conditions (Ikwukananne, 2009). These may seem like obvious motivators; however, there exists organizations that may not provide these. With Maslow's higher levels, an employee can be motivated by additional responsibilities or a more challenging job description.
The effectiveness of Maslow's motivational theory is lacking in scholarly research (Ikwukananne, 2009) as the theory pertains to a current organization. This blogger believes, as stated in another post, that an employee will only produce as far as they are capable based on where they fit on Maslow's hierarchy. Employees will fit somewhere on Maslow's hierarchy and management should pay close attention to where their employees fit.
Herzberg's motivational theory is important in today's workplace as managers need to know what motivates their individual team members. Some team members are motivated by bonuses or a nice office and again, it is imperative that managers know their teams so that proper and meaningful rewards are given. The blogger's boss knows what motivates her team and she uses these tools to get her team exicted about the work they do.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
How Maslow and Herzberg Work in the Real World
Maslow and Herzberg do offer practical applications in today's modern organization. First, this blogger will explore Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory. If an organization has a team member who is experiencing domestic violence at home, it is safe to say that this individual's safety needs are not being met. This individual is likely to suffer as far as work production as for some, working provides an element of esteem; however, this individual is fearing for their lives, so having esteem at work is not a priority. They inevitably are stuck at securing safety and until such time as this individual feels safe again, work will continue to take a back seat to feeling safe.
Managers and leaders in all organizations should take an active role in discovering issues in employee's lives that might prevent someone from doing their job to the fullest potential. Therefore, using the illustration above, a manager should intervene and determine the most suitable course of action for the employee to get them back on track. This could include offering Employee Assistance in the form of counseling for the employee or granting a Leave of Absence until such time as the employee can return to work.
With Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory, employees are motivated by two sets of factors (Ikwukananne, 2009). The two factors are what satisify employees and what does not satisfy employees. For example, having a nice office to work in may not motivate an individual while a healthy bonus at the end of each quarter may motivate this same individual. There is a duality of sorts in what does and does not motivate someone. For this blogger, having a nice office is great; however, a large bonus would be extremely beneficial as there is more value to this than an office.
Using Herzberg's theory, a manager would need to know what does and does not motivate their employees and use these tools as often as possible.
Managers and leaders in all organizations should take an active role in discovering issues in employee's lives that might prevent someone from doing their job to the fullest potential. Therefore, using the illustration above, a manager should intervene and determine the most suitable course of action for the employee to get them back on track. This could include offering Employee Assistance in the form of counseling for the employee or granting a Leave of Absence until such time as the employee can return to work.
With Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory, employees are motivated by two sets of factors (Ikwukananne, 2009). The two factors are what satisify employees and what does not satisfy employees. For example, having a nice office to work in may not motivate an individual while a healthy bonus at the end of each quarter may motivate this same individual. There is a duality of sorts in what does and does not motivate someone. For this blogger, having a nice office is great; however, a large bonus would be extremely beneficial as there is more value to this than an office.
Using Herzberg's theory, a manager would need to know what does and does not motivate their employees and use these tools as often as possible.
Two Leadership Theories-Compare/Contrast
Leaders within any organization will have the daunting task of discovering what motivates their team members and then applying these techniques to each employee. This is the task of developing a leadership theory perspective based on the multidude of current theories reviewed in the literature. Some managers may select a theory based on the overall makeup of each employee and some will apply one theory to all team members.
For the purpose of this blog, two leadership theories will be explored in four sections with each section representing a different topic of discussion. All four sections will be submitted to Dr. Shirley Johnson for MGT5010.
The two theories to be examined in this first section are Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory is predicated on five basic human needs that motivate human behavior including physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (Sadri & Bowen, 2011). Maslow believed that these needs are hierarchical in nature and one cannot advance through the levels unless the current need is met. For example, if a hungry person cannot meet the basic need for sustenance, then that person cannot advance to the need for safety.
In terms of motivating employees, Sadri and Bower (2011) reported that employees will feel motivated if there exists direction, intensity, and persistence within the organization. Maslow's theory connects these three factors as each level of Maslow's hierarchy has a foundation in direction, intensity, and persistence. Individuals will need to work at reaching a new level and be persistent in finding ways to become self-actualized.
Maslow’s theory can be applied to motivating employees in terms of what benefits to grant employees and to determine where an employee is on the hierarchy. Since Maslow himself was considered a humanist, applying this theory to motivating employees, or humans, makes perfect sense (Saeednia, 2009). For example, if an organization has an employee who cannot afford to feed their family, that individual will remain on the lowest level which is physiological and will not be able to progress forward from that level. Organizations attempt to motivate employees at this basic level by offering regular meal times and scheduled break times.
Comparatively speaking, Maslow's theory can be compared to Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. Ikwukananne (2009) stated there are similarities between Herzberg and Maslow; however, they differ in that Herzberg argued that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, are a result of various causes and job satisfaction depends on motivators. Basically job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are not opposites of each other and in essence employers should deal with each differently. Kroth (2007) states there are other more current theories such as self-efficacy and goal setting theories that might work better in today’s modern organization. They differ from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory as self-efficacy and goal setting are more cognitively based. Employees would be motivated to perform tasks or complete objectives because they believe they can. This differs considerably from Maslow’s theory which is more physiological in nature.
For the purpose of this blog, two leadership theories will be explored in four sections with each section representing a different topic of discussion. All four sections will be submitted to Dr. Shirley Johnson for MGT5010.
The two theories to be examined in this first section are Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory is predicated on five basic human needs that motivate human behavior including physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (Sadri & Bowen, 2011). Maslow believed that these needs are hierarchical in nature and one cannot advance through the levels unless the current need is met. For example, if a hungry person cannot meet the basic need for sustenance, then that person cannot advance to the need for safety.
In terms of motivating employees, Sadri and Bower (2011) reported that employees will feel motivated if there exists direction, intensity, and persistence within the organization. Maslow's theory connects these three factors as each level of Maslow's hierarchy has a foundation in direction, intensity, and persistence. Individuals will need to work at reaching a new level and be persistent in finding ways to become self-actualized.
Maslow’s theory can be applied to motivating employees in terms of what benefits to grant employees and to determine where an employee is on the hierarchy. Since Maslow himself was considered a humanist, applying this theory to motivating employees, or humans, makes perfect sense (Saeednia, 2009). For example, if an organization has an employee who cannot afford to feed their family, that individual will remain on the lowest level which is physiological and will not be able to progress forward from that level. Organizations attempt to motivate employees at this basic level by offering regular meal times and scheduled break times.
Comparatively speaking, Maslow's theory can be compared to Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. Ikwukananne (2009) stated there are similarities between Herzberg and Maslow; however, they differ in that Herzberg argued that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, are a result of various causes and job satisfaction depends on motivators. Basically job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are not opposites of each other and in essence employers should deal with each differently. Kroth (2007) states there are other more current theories such as self-efficacy and goal setting theories that might work better in today’s modern organization. They differ from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory as self-efficacy and goal setting are more cognitively based. Employees would be motivated to perform tasks or complete objectives because they believe they can. This differs considerably from Maslow’s theory which is more physiological in nature.
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