Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs: The Straight Dope – Why needs are more like vitamins than pyramids

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs: The Straight Dope - Why needs are more like vitamins than pyramidsThe question of how to motivate people is a central preoccupation for most businesses: how to motivate employees to work hard; how to motivate customers to buy and recommend your company’s products; how to motivate partner organizations to work with you; how to motivate shareholders to buy your stock. For many people, the go-to theory for motivation was put forward by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ and is most commonly known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The chances are you’ve come across the five-tiered pyramid, with physiological needs such as food, sleep and sex at its base, rising up to needs around safety, then belonging, then esteem, until we reach the top of the pyramid, where needs around self-actualization reside: the fulfilment of these needs was a subject of fascination for Maslow. He admired people like Albert Einstein, who he believed to be a paragon of self-actualization. In fact, he was so enamored by the likes of Einstein and Mother Teresa and Beethoven that he based his theory of self-actualization around them. The tip of his pyramid contains a list of the qualities he most admired in his heroes: morality, creativity, problem-solving capability and absence of prejudice. The purpose of the hierarchy is to demonstrate that until lower-order needs have been met, it’s difficult for individuals to focus on and satisfy their higher-order needs. In Maslow’s words: ‘For the man who is extremely and dangerously hungry, no other interests exist but food.’

Where’s the science?

The popularity of Maslow’s hierarchy lies in how simple it is to grasp and how flexible it is in its application. As a universal theory of human motivation, it can be used to make the case for staff canteens, team-building days, canapés at investor presentations and CSR schemes. And because each of the five layers of needs feels intuitive to Western minds, any huckster business consultant or cod psychologist can manipulate it to suit their purposes. But few people who use the hierarchy seem to understand it is based on the biographies of 18 people. There’s no scientific method at work. No body of evidence exists to prove or disprove the veracity of the model or its assumptions. He may as well have built his model around Jane and Michael’s nanny advert from Mary Poppins: a cheery disposition… Kind… Witty…. Never cross or cruel… In fact, there are striking similarities between Mary Poppins and Maslow’s actualized self.

A more serious issue with Maslow’s model is that it reflects a Western tendency to consider the individual above the collective. This is a huge value judgment, given that self-actualization and self-esteem both sit above love and belonging. It’s not clear why needs need to exist in a hierarchy at all – particularly one that champions the self to such a degree. Van Gogh and Vermeer managed to create sublime works of art, despite spending much of their lives on the poverty line. And a 2011 analysis of Gallup data from over 60 thousand people across 123 countries revealed that we are happiest when we achieve a balanced fulfilment of needs – including a balance between basic needs, social needs and self-actualization needs. In other words, it’s wrong to think of needs belonging to a hierarchy. Needs are like vitamins – we need a healthy and varied diet of them.

Beyond making ourselves happy, this has significant implications for how we think about leadership, attracting and retaining employees, and how to make customers happy. In the case of leadership, it suggests we place too great an emphasis on individual effectiveness and not enough on understanding group dynamics. When it comes to motivating employees, we probably pay too much attention to personal development, reward and recognition, at the expense of influence and social currency. And in the case of customers, we almost certainly pay too much attention to satisfying individuals’ rational and emotional needs and too little on the social benefits that organizations deliver to their customers and the communities they are a part of. Ultimately, humans are far less selfish than Maslow’s model suggests. That’s a reason to celebrate. And to find a better model of human motivation.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Nick LiddellNick Liddell is co-author, with Richard Buchanan, of Wild Thinking: 25 Unconventional Idea to Grow Your Brand and Your Business. He is Director of Consulting at The Clearing, helping global brands grow and make a difference. For more information, please visit: https://www.koganpage.com/product/wild-thinking-9780749484507

Putting Smiles on Faces: 3 Tips for Happy Employees

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Putting Smiles on Faces: 3 Tips for Happy EmployeesOne of the most important parts of business is productivity. Companies have been trying since their inception to reach the highest productivity possible. Today, we live in an industrialized world because people wanted to create better, easier ways of doing things.

One aspect of productivity that gets overlooked a lot is the employees. The workers are what make the company run, so having happy workers can only work in your favor.

The question is, how do you achieve this? What are some things you can do to make sure you have happy employees? We’ll give you a few ideas in the paragraphs below.

1. Praise and Recognition

Sometimes, the best things you can do are also the simplest. We all need to feel needed, and letting someone know that they’re valued can do a lot towards making them feel better and work more efficiently.

Studies have shown that happy employees are much more productive. There’s plenty of cynical sayings out there about people just waiting to take advantage of your generosity and trust, but they’re often untrue.

Humans are social creatures. We’ve evolved to be social creatures, and in the course of that evolution, we have learned that groups work best when everybody does their share and gets along.

2. Be Honest and Forthright

This sounds obvious, but it goes a lot further than just telling the truth when asked. Tell people things about the company as a whole.

Keep them up-to-date on what’s going on, how it affects them, and what the future might hold. You should even ask for feedback when you can.

Businesses tend to function much better when employees feel trusted.

This goes along with instinct and group dynamic. People who consistently tell us the truth often have a stake in our well-being, or, at the very least, probably aren’t a threat to us.

Trust is one of the reasons we have paystubs. Not only do they make it easier to keep records, but it helps us to understand our pay and why we’re getting the amount we are.

You can discover more about paystubs, or even create them, by clicking the link.

3. Understand That Work Isn’t Everything

Everybody has a life outside of work, and you’ll learn more about the lives of your employees as you get to know them.

Making an employee as productive as possible means caring about their home lives as well. This means offering help and support whenever they need it. Offer them more days off, or create a daycare center in your office building.

Employee wellness plays a role. Trying to give more insurance or insurance at a lower cost mean you care not only about them, but those who depend on them.

Happy Employees Make a Happy Business

Companies benefit from happy employees. Employees who feel valued tend to care more about the company and do more to see it thrive.

The best way to get happy employees is to see people before workers. Praise them and make them feel appreciated when they do something good. Be honest with them, and understand that they have a home and a set of responsibilities outside of work.

If you want more information and advice on business, the internet, and social media, please visit our site.

4 Ways Reduce Employee Turnover

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Employee Turnover| 4 Ways Reduce Employee TurnoverMany organizations experience employee turnover. Replacing competent and experienced employees is a challenge for many companies. Most of them struggle to retain their staff. New Jersey businesses can give their employees annual leaves to rest. They can visit the Resorts Casino during weekends to get an online welcome offer. It helps them relax their minds and improve their productivity at work. Employers can minimize employee turnover in different ways.

Give Competitive Wages and Benefits

Everyone has basic needs such as food and housing. Most employees try to earn extra benefits to increase their savings. An employee might leave your organization if you offer low wages. It is prudent to research the current wages which similar businesses offer to determine the right salary for your wages. For example, Colorado tech-firms offers similar benefits to their IT specialists. Offer competitive benefits to retain experienced staff.

Appreciate your Employees

Most organizations encourage and recognize hard-working employees. It motivates them to perform their roles diligently. For instance, you can congratulate a certain department once they complete a difficult project. However, it isn’t necessary to compliment them at all times. Instead, it is prudent to create a friendly environment to make your staff feel acknowledged and appreciated. You can make annual performance analysis to promote devoted staff.

Project a Career Path for Your Employees

Many workers apply for jobs in other companies when they stagnate in a certain position for long. They strive to increase their knowledge and expertise in a certain field. Show your staff a clear career path to instill a sense of purpose and direction in them. You can change an employee to a higher position or another department to hone their skills. Nevertheless, it is important to inform your employees before you switch their positions.

Set Flexible Work Schedules

Create flexible work schedules for your employees to allow them to adjust their location and work plan. Everyone needs a work-life balance to remain healthy and productive. Flexible schedules allow employees to spend adequate time with family and friends. However, some organizations have strict work schedules. They have fixed work hours which all workers must adhere to.

The current job market is highly competitive. Companies with high employee turnover experience numerous financial constraints. They spend a lot of time and money recruiting and training new staff. Organizations can offer flexible work plans and benefits to minimize employee turnover. Also, they can assign new roles to employees to help them advance their careers.

A Guide: What to Do When an Employee Steals from You

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article|Employee Theft|A Guide: What to Do When an Employee Steals from YouIt’s every business owner’s worst nightmare: employee theft. The financial ramifications of embezzlement, which is its official title, alone are enough to cause vast amounts of stress and worry. Throw in the fact that trust is broken and genuine friendships are ruined as a result of it, and everything about this kind of plight becomes hard to stomach.

You might not be able to repair the relationship that you once shared with the member of your workforce that stole from you, but you can protect your business from further harm as a result of the situation. In order to protect the financial welfare and reputation of your company, you have to take action as soon as you are aware of the fact that a staff member is stealing from you.

Read on to find out what you need to do in the aftermath of employee theft.

Gather all the facts

Before you go in all guns blazing, you need to ensure that you’ve gathered all the facts pertaining to the employee theft that has befallen your business. By not doing so, you could very well end up accusing an employee that has actually done nothing wrong. If this were to happen, you would not only sour the relationship that you share with that particular staff member, but you would also force the rest of your workforce to reconsider their trust in you. How could you expect them to trust you going forward if they believe you are going to accuse them whenever money goes missing?

You also need to gather all the facts so that you have evidence to fall back on should you push forward with court proceedings. This means making copies of invoices and receipts, locating and locking away vital video recordings, and keeping transcriptions of any interviews that you conduct on the matter.

Get yourself a lawyer

You need to deal with your case of employee theft in as swift and effective a manner as possible. If you allow it to linger, people will begin to question how seriously you are taking the situation, and other employees may even slip their hands in your tills if they know that they can get away with it.

To deal with your matter of embezzlement quickly, you need to align yourself with a lawyer that specializes in this field right away. As soon as you possibly can, you should get in touch with a law firm such as thefishmanfirm.com, inform them about everything that has transpired, and provide them with the evidence that you managed to gather about the situation. They will then set about the task of ensuring that your business is reimbursed in full and possibly even compensated for its involvement in the ordeal.

Employee theft is not nice, but it happens. If this problem does, in fact, ever happen to befall you, you need to take action against it right away. If you don’t, not only could you lose a boatload of cash, but you could also end up doing serious damage to your reputation. How are customers and clients going to be able to trust you with their interests if you are unable to deal with people stealing from you right under your nose?

Take the above advice, and don’t take embezzlement lying down.

How to Ensure You Have Happy and Productive Employees

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As a manager of a team, your primary responsibility is to make sure the people working for you are doing the best work they can be and are inspired to come to work every day to do so. If you’re doing your job well, your team will, in turn, do theirs well and will be more productive, efficient, and overall happier with their jobs. Happy employees mean less turnover, which can save the company money in the long-term — it’s a win-win for everyone.

The challenge is to balance managing and leading a team while still being able to find time to get your own daily task list completed. Maybe you were thrust into a management position without prior experience or much knowledge, or had to lead a team before and are still looking for new ways to be efficient, but regardless, there are some easy ways to ensure your employees are happy at work without spending too much of your time.

Be authentic

Nobody wants to be around someone they can tell is acting fake, nor would they trust that person and turn to them with work-related issues or to help solve a problem. Don’t come to work with a “work persona” or with a face on, but rather be yourself and be genuine – people can certainly tell the difference.

Lead the team how you’re comfortable doing so, not based on how others lead or by trying to copy a leadership style that doesn’t work for you. Find your groove instead of trying to mimic someone else’s, and your employees will value that, as well as feel they can be themselves at work too.

Appreciate good work

When someone feels as though they put in a good effort and don’t get recognized for it, they can quickly feel undervalued and start looking elsewhere for work. Colleagues are often caught up in their own workload that they don’t take the time to offer recognition to each other, so step up and be the one who appreciates and congratulates an employee on doing well at their job. It will ensure motivation levels are high, and also set the bar and encourage other employees to do the same, which fosters a positive and empowering environment for everyone. Even a simple “good job” can make a big difference.

Have a good break area

Taking a break from work helps relax your mind, detach from the stresses of the day or problem at hand, and then come back at it with a refreshed brain, ready to tackle it again. It can also help people take a look at a problem from a new angle they wouldn’t have thought of if they had sat there racking their brain for hours on end.

Having a space to encourage breaks, like a family-style kitchen eating area with a big table and chairs, or a “fun room” with activities like a foosball table, books, board or card games, or a fully stocked mini-fridge. Also, having water coolers around the office encourages employees to get up every once in a while to stretch their legs and grab a drink, and maybe socialize for a bit with a colleague.

If you have the boss’s ear, advocate for a good and fun employee break area. Or, you are the one who runs the show at work, maybe it’s time to rearrange some furniture or even get to remodeling the office space. It may seem like a big upfront cost, but happy employees are more productive, efficient, and you’ll have less turnover to account for.