Motivation is what drives people. It is a critical part of human nature that pushes us to meet our goals and get things done. If we as humans lacked motivation, nothing would be accomplished. Motivation is essential in every part of our lives however, in this case I will discuss why motivation is crucial in the workplace and how through applied social psychology motivation can be increased in the workplace. Specifically the social psychological theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory (Gruman, 2016).
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is broken down into five categories. We start with the first level, physiological needs. These needs are the basics, food, water, shelter, clothes, ect. The next level is safety and security. This includes health, employment, and family. The third level is love and belonging. This includes friendship, family, a sense of connection, and intimacy. The fourth level is self esteem. This includes achievement, confidence, self respect and the need to be an individual. And the fifth and final level is self actualization. This includes creativity, morality, inner potential and meaning (Mcleod, 2024). All of these tiers play a role in a person’s individual motivation.
At different points of life people experience different levels of the needs of each tier. It has been shown that not many people feel they reach the fifth and final tier of Maslow’s hierarchy, self actualization. This is because this tier is the only tier that is considered a self fulfillment need. The first two tiers are considered basic needs, and the second two tiers are considered psychological needs. People base their motivation on how much they can fulfill these needs. For example, people are motivated to get a job in general to make money so they can pay for their basic needs, food, water, shelter, and safety. Once those needs are taken care of, they can move on to the other needs, psychological needs and self fulfillment. If companies were able to promise their employees more than just the basic needs, they would see an increase in motivation and better work being done (Mcleod, 2024).
There are multiple ways companies, specifically their HR department, can help increase their employees’ motivation by helping satisfy their needs. For psychological needs, employees can be offered health care benefits, wellness services, and making sure the work place is generally comfortable such as a nice office space with a kitchen with food readily available. To help with employees self esteem, companies can incorporate providing their employees with tasks that are unique to their talents, letting employees share their talents and skills with each other so everyone can learn, and making sure everyone in the office, including those with roles of power, are kind and using motivation words and affirmations to each other. Finally, to help employees’ self actualization needs, the most difficult step, companies can sponsor their employees in continuing their education, and dedicate resources to fostering innovation. Fostering innovation can mean letting employees get creative in sharing their ideas for the company without negative judgment (Mcleod, 2024).
Motivation is a crucial aspect to a person’s life. There are many levels of motivation as we have discussed and how people get motivated. If companies better learned about social psychology and the way people behave and why they do, this knowledge can be used to leverage employees’ motivation. Not only would using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory help a company, but it will also generally hemp their employees as their own people and learn how to reach self actualization.
Resources:
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781506353968
Mcleod, S. (2024). Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html?ez_vid=2cae626a2fe896279da43d587baa3eb663083817
I completely agree with the importance of motivation in the workplace and the application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory to increase motivation. Maslow’s theory provides a framework for understanding the different levels of needs that individuals have and how they affect motivation.
While Maslow’s theory s widely recognized, it’s important to note that individuals may prioritize and experience these needs differently. For example, some individuals may prioritize self-esteem and achievement over love and belonging, while others could prioritize safety and security. Recognizing and accommodating these individual differences can help create motivational strategies to meet the different needs of employees.
Motivation requires ongoing attention and adjustment. As individuals progress through different stages of their careers and personal lives, their needs and motivation may change. Therefore, organizations must regularly adapt their strategies to assure they remain in effect.
While Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory provides framework for understanding motivation in the workplace, it’s important to consider individual differences. By recognizing and addressing these factors, workplaces can create a better work environment that provides motivation and fulfillment to all its employees.
It ‘s really cool being able to see theories like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory working in action and a workplace environment is a great place to see it like you stated. I’ve noticed myself at my workplace that I’m much more motivated to do the work and more than is asked of me when I feel like I’m understood and appreciated in addition to potential benefits and healthcare. As an HR lead it’s very important to understand theories like this as well as how they can be applied to overall create an effective work environment in addition to a work environment workers are happy to be part of. This I believe is the most important part of creating a stable and efficient work environment.