The most popular and widely cited human motivation theorist is Abraham Maslow. Maslow met Kurt Goldstein, a German neurologist and psychiatrist who was a pioneer in modern neuropsychology and originated the concept of self-actualisation. Subsequent to meeting Goldstein, Maslow began his crusade for a humanistic psychology. Early in his career, he worked with monkeys and noticed that “some needs took precedence over others” (Maslow & Lowry 1973). Maslow took this observation and created the theory of the Hierarchy of Needs, and Miner (2002) has emphasised that it remains valid today for understanding human motivation, management training, and personal development.
According to Maslow, any need that is unfulfilled can be used as a motivator. One need only find the things that would satisfy a particular person's need. On the other hand, once a need is fulfilled it can no longer be used to motivate. For example, if people have their physiological, safety, and belonging needs met, they can be motivated by offering them opportunities to fulfil status and self-esteem needs. It would be better to offer these people recognition or a new title, rather than something from the lower three needs. Once the self-esteem and status needs are met, it would be less effective to try to motivate someone through personal awards or a mention in the employee newsletter. According to Maslow, the self-actualizing need should be appealed to next. Offering new challenges, tuition reimbursement, or work time for learning might be some ways to appeal to self-actualization.
Although Maslow introduced his Hierarchy of Needs theory over sixty years ago, Latham (2006) claims there has been only a limited number of studies that support his needs theory, and those published have reported mixed findings.
Like many theorists of his time, Clayton Alderfer could see shortcomings in Maslow’s hierarchy. Maslow’s hierarchy was not easily applied to the real world. As a graduate student, Alderfer searched for a way to make Maslow’s hierarchy more useful for empirical research.
In order to give Maslow’s hierarchy more utility, Alderfer modified Maslow’s theory and developed a new perspective called the ERG Theory. He chose to name the theory ERG to represent Existence, Relatedness and Growth. According to Alderfer, “the existence, relatedness and growth categories of the ERG theory were more appropriate than the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy to describe human behaviour” (Grey & Antonacopoulou 2004). According to the ERG theory, focusing exclusively on one need at a time will not effectively motivate changes in behaviour.
Alderfer’s theory influenced this study more than Maslow’s theory because as Cloke and Goldsmith (2001) have stated, Alderfer’s theory has been empirically tested and provided a framework for empirically testing a seven hierarchy via stated preference, whereas Maslow’s did not offer any of these advantages. Maslow’s hierarchy, stating that humans will choose physiological needs over safety needs, is not supported by Alderfer’s research.
Additionally, Alderfer had effectively reduced the number of hierarchy levels from five to three, simplifying the structure of any comparisons between hierarchy levels.
There are several key differences with Maslow. ERG accounts for differences in need preferences between cultures as the order of needs can be different for different people. Alderfer’s theory provides more flexibility that allows for a wider range of observed behaviours. He also acknowledges that if a higher-order need is frustrated, an individual may regress to increase the satisfaction of a lower-order need which appears easier to satisfy.
Another motivation theorist is, Frederick Herzberg, “who has been considered by many to be a pioneer in motivation theory, was a US clinical psychologist who later became Professor of Management at Utah University” (Nelson & Quick 1997). His overriding interest in mental health stemmed from his belief that mental health is the core issue of our times. Herzberg's “work focused on the individual in the workplace, but it has been popular with managers as it also emphasised the importance of management knowledge and expertise” (Herzberg et al. 1993).
Herzberg’s theory can be viewed as an extension of Maslow’s, but it introduces the concept of potential de-motivators that can exist in the organizational environment. During the 1950's and 60's, Herzberg decided to carefully study and research the key factors affecting a worker's performance. Latham (2006) states that the research carried out by Herzberg offered some support for Maslow's views and focused upon the psychological aspects of motivation. Herzberg interviewed a group of 203 accountants and engineers to find out what made them satisfied and dissatisfied on the job.
Herzberg constructed a two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting people's attitudes about work. He concluded that such “factors as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary are hygiene factors rather than motivators” (Herzberg et al. 1993). According to the theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction.
During his research, he found that certain factors tend to cause a worker to feel unsatisfied with their work. These factors seemed to directly relate to the employee's environment such as the physical surroundings, supervisors and even the company itself. He went on to develop his theory that there are two dimensions to job satisfaction: motivation and "hygiene", naming it the "The Two Factor Hygiene and Motivation Theory".
Herzberg et al. 1993 believed that workers get motivated through feeling responsible for and connected to their work, therefore making the work itself more rewarding. He proposed that managers are able to motivate and help employees connect to their work by giving them more authority over the job, as well as offering direct and individual feedback.
There is much similarity between Herzberg's and Maslow's models. A close examination of Herzberg's ideas indicates that what he actually is saying is that some employees may have achieved a level of social and economic progress such that the higher-level needs of Maslow (esteem and self-actualization) are the primary motivators. However, they still must satisfy the lower-level needs for the maintenance of their current state. So we can see that money might still be a motivator for non management workers (particularly those at a low wage level) and for some managerial employees. In addition, Herzberg's model adds to Maslow's model, because it breaks down the five need levels into two job-oriented categories: maintenance and motivational.
When a comparison is made of the above content theories of motivation, there are noted similarities. Each theory describes an individual’s various needs in similar terms. Herzberg’s hygiene factors parallel Maslow’s physiological, security, and belongingness needs, and Alderfer’s existence and relatedness needs. Maslow’s self-esteem and self-actualization needs are similar to Herzberg’s motivators and Alderfer’s growth requirement. It is clear that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory has had a great influence on the study of organizational behaviour.
While all of these theories are helpful to managers in understanding motivation, it is important to draw upon a combination of needs, extrinsic factors and intrinsic factors in an effort to help motivate employees, and to help employees meet their own personal needs and goals, and ultimately to achieve effectiveness within the organisation.
REFERENCE LIST
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Cloke, K & Goldsmith, J, 2002, The End of Management: And the rise of Organisational Democracy, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, United States of America
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Frey, B & Osterloh, M 2003, Successful Management by Motivation: Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incentives, Springer, Great Britain
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Grey, C & Antonacopoulou, E, 2004, Essential Readings in Management Learning, Amacom, Great Britain
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Herzberg, F, Mausner, B & Snyderman, B (ed.), 1993, The Motivation to Work, Transaction Publishers, United States of America
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Latham, G 2006, Work Motivation: History, Theory, Research, and Practice, SAGE, Asia Pacific
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Maslow, A & Lowry R 1973, Dominance, Self-esteem, Self-actualization, Amazon, United States of America
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Miner, B 2002, Organizational Behaviour: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses, Oxford University Press, United States of America
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Nelson, D & Quick J, 1997, Understanding Organisational Behaviour, 2nd edn, Thomson Asia, Philippines
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Steers, R, Porter, L & Bigley, G 1996, Motivation and Leadership at Work, McGraw-Hill, United States of America
