Page 262 - Introduction to Business

236 PART 2 Managing Business Behavior

employee morale, and productivity. This implies that firms that pay attention to
their employees’ physical and operational work environment will likely have a
motivated workforce that will perform well and be productive. Present-day human
relations management functions in corporations are based on the premise that a
satisfied employee is a productive employee; hence the work environment needs to
be inviting. That is a major reason why most employers today provide all sorts of
benefits like subsidized health care, maternity leave, retirement benefits, medita-
tion time, and so on, for their employees.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Like the Hawthorne Studies, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs falls in the behavioral era Maslow’s hierarchy of needs The
of human resources management. In 1954 Abraham Maslow, an American human- principle that physiological needs are
basic and must be satisfied before a
istic psychologist, developed a theory of motivation based on a hierarchy of human
person is motivated to satisfy higher
needs. He classified the motive to work by arranging needs into five distinct cate- levels of needs that have more subtle
gories in a hierarchy, from lower to higher in importance as it relates to personal origins
satisfaction and development. 2
According to Maslow, physiological needs are basic; these most fundamental
motives spring from the need to survive and include such things as food, clothing,
and shelter. These basic needs are something all employers try to provide through
adequate wages. Basic needs must be satisfied before employees are motivated to
satisfy less basic needs that are higher up in Maslow’s hierarchy. The second level
consists of safety needs, things that we desire to have to live without anxiety, such as
health insurance, meditation programs, pension plans, job security, and working
conditions. The third level is social needs, which include a sense of belonging or
acceptance by others within a group or organization at work or outside work. Infor-
mal social groups like the Women in Business Club or the International Club help
meet this need as employees get a sense of togetherness.
The fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy is esteem needs, which are satisfied
with rewards, promotion, and recognition achieved by making the best possible im-
pression on others. For exam-
ple, universities often give best EXHIBIT 7.3
teaching awards or best re-
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
searcher awards to professors to
Basic needs must be largely satisfied before higher motives can emerge.
keep them motivated. Some
real estate firms and supermar-
Self-Actualization Needs
kets give recognition to the
(opportunity to infuse new corporate
Employee of the Month and or institutional culture)
even provide those employees
with special parking privileges. Esteem Needs
Maslow believed that the high- (performance-based awards and recognition)
est motive in the hierarchy is
self-actualization—the drive to Social Needs
realize one’s full potential. Jack (membership in social and professional
Welch, the former CEO of Gen- clubs or groups)
eral Electric, was never content
Safety Needs
with all he had achieved in his (provision of health insurance, pension benefits, job security,
career at GE, and he always felt and safe working conditions)
that GE could do still better—
the “GE Way.” Maslow’s hierar- Physiological Needs
chy of needs is illustrated in (cater to basic food, clothing, shelter, and transport requirements)
Exhibit 7.3.

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