THEORY RELATED TO MOTIVATION
THE NEED HIERARCH THEORY
One of the first theories that describe behavior as being directed toward the satisfaction of human needs is the hierarchy of needs theory by Abraham Maslow.
His theory is a theoretical foundation for many of need based approaches to motivation. According to Maslow (1954), people are motivated to satisfy their needs and those needs can be classified into the following five categories that are in an ascending hierarchy: Physiological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem and self-actualization needs. The first three are characterized as lower level needs while the last two are higher order needs. Physiological needs are the basic biological needs like air, water, food and shelter. In the organizational setting, these are reflected in the needs for adequate heat, air and a base salary to guarantee survival. Safety needs are the needs for security and protection from danger. In an organizational workplace, safety needs refers to the needs for safe jobs, fringe benefits and job security. Social needs are the needs for interaction with other people, belongingness, love etc. These needs reflect the desire to be accepted by one’s peers, have friendships, be part of a group and be loved. In the work environment, these needs affect the desire for good relationships with co-workers, participation in a work group and a positive relationship with supervisors. Esteem is the desire for respect, which is affected by the person’s standing reputation, his need for attention, recognition, achievement and appreciation etc. Maslow illustrated two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity etc. The higher form involves the need for self-respect, including such feelings as confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence, and freedom. Within organizations, esteem needs reflect a motivation for recognition, an increase in responsibility, high status and appreciation for contributions to the organization. Self-actualization refers to the desire for self-fulfillment; it is a drive for individuals for self-development, creativity and job satisfaction. They are related to developing one’s full potential, increasing one’s competence and becoming a better person. Providing people with opportunities to grow, to be creative, and to offer training for advancement are the means that self-actualization needs can be met with in the organization. Maslow argued that as each lower level need is substantially satisfied, individuals are motivated by the next higher level need. That is, the needs are satisfied in sequence. According to Maslow’s argument, a person desiring job security would dedicate his or her efforts to ensure it and would not be concerned with seeking recognition. Maslow also claimed that higher levels of satisfaction for a particular need decrease its potential as a motivator. There are some criticisms to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. One main criticism is that there is little empirical evidence to support Maslow’s assumptions (Drenth, Thierry & Willems, 1984). Second, his methodology was problematic (Boeree, 1998). Maslow’s methodology was that he picked a small number of people that he himself declared self-actualizing such as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, then he looked at their biographies, writings, the acts and words of those he knew personally, and so on. From these sources, he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of these people and reached conclusions about what self-actualization is. Third, Maslow assumes that human beings will move up the hierarchy, satisfying one need before moving on. But, there are many examples that refute this thought. Many of the best artists and authors, which can be thought of as self-actualized, suffered from poverty, bad upbringing, neuroses, and depression (Boeree, 1998). That is, they were far from having their lower needs taken care of. For example Van Gogh and Galileo suffered from mental illness, and yet were able to produce works that made a difference. To conclude, in spite of the criticisms, Maslow’s work is important in terms of recognizing the needs being pursued by employees and shedding some light on the social and psychological needs of individuals in addition to material needs. With the higher order needs of esteem and self-actualization, Maslow emphasizes the importance of non-monetary incentives in motivating the people.
Non-monetary incentives address these higher order needs, rather than any basic needs such as food and shelter. If it is awarded as an appreciation of a contribution, a tangible non-monetary incentive will remind the employees of their performance and recognition for it, filling the needs for self-esteem and it will create esteem in the eyes of co-workers, family, and friends. It will satisfy employees’ recognition and respect needs. On the other hand, as it is mentioned in the section discussing benefits of non-monetary incentives over cash, it is not easy to brag about the cash incentives, which leads to a potential decrease in its power to serve esteem needs. Also, social non-monetary incentives such as a verbal recognition by supervisors or letter of appreciation to the employees contribute their self-esteem, while social activities such as after-work parties, company picnics, sports activities etc. satisfy the belongingness and friendship needs of employees. Job-related non-monetary incentives work on the self-actualization needs of employees. Providing employees with opportunities to grow like training programs, letting them to be creative in their jobs, giving them more responsibility and autonomy helps employees’ self-fulfillment. The implication of Maslow’s theory is that non-monetary incentives can be most effective on employees who are meeting their basic needs and satisfaction of basic needs is not alone enough to motivate employees. In light of this, nonmonetary incentives have an important place in satisfying other needs of employees which cannot be met by compensation. Within the limitations of the scope of the survey study, the present study will also help to understand whether public employees have moved beyond the basic physiological and security needs as primary motivators.
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