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by Lakshman Balasubramanyam
As a leader, you need to interact with your followers, peers,
seniors, and others, whose support you
need in order to accomplish
your objectives. To gain their support, you must be able to
understand and motivate them. To understand and motivate people, you
must know human nature. Human nature is the common qualities of all
human beings. People behave according to certain principles of human
nature. These principles govern our behaviour. Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs Human needs are an important part of human nature. Values,
beliefs, and customs differ from country to country and group to
group, but all people have similar needs. As a leader you must
understand these needs because they are powerful motivators.
Abraham
Maslow (Maslow, 1954) felt that human needs were arranged in a
hierarchical order. He based his theory on healthy, creative people
who used all their talents, potential, and capabilities. At the
time, this methodology differed from most other psychology research
studies in that they were based on observing disturbed people. There
are two major groups of human needs: basic needs and meta needs.
Basic needs are physiological, such as food, water, and sleep; and
psychological, such as affection, security, and self-esteem.
These
basic needs are also called deficiency needs because if they are not
met by an individual, then that person will strive to make up the
deficiency. The higher needs are called meta needs or being needs
(growth needs). These include justice, goodness, beauty, order,
unity, etc. Basic needs normally take priority over growth needs.
For example, a person who lacks food or water will not normally
attend to justice or beauty needs.
These needs are listed below in
hierarchical order. The basic needs on the bottom of the list (1 to
4) must normally be met before the meta or being needs above them
can be met. The four meta needs (5 to 8) can be pursued in any
order, depending upon a person's wants or circumstances, as long as
the basic needs have all been met.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
- 8. Self-transcendence - a transegoic (see Note below) level that
emphasizes visionary intuition, altruism, and unity consciousness.
- 7. Self-actualization - know exactly who you are, where you are
going, and what you want to accomplish. A state of well-being.
- 6. Aesthetic - at peace, more curious about inner workings of all.
- 5. Cognitive - learning for learning alone, contribute
knowledge.
- 4. Esteem - feeling of moving up in world,
recognition, few doubts about self.
- 3. Belongingness and love -
belong to a group, close friends to confide with.
- 2. Safety -
feel free from immediate danger.
- 1. Physiological - food, water,
shelter, sex.
Maslow posited that people want and are forever
striving to meet various goals. Because the lower level needs are
more immediate and urgent, then they come into play as the source
and direction of a person's goal if they are not satisfied,. A need
higher in the hierarchy will become a motive of behaviour as long as
the needs below it have been satisfied. Unsatisfied lower needs will
dominate unsatisfied higher needs and must be satisfied before the
person can climb up the hierarchy. Knowing where a person is located
on this scale aids in determining an effective motivator.
For
example, motivating a middle-class person (who is in range 4 of the
hierarchy) with a certificate will have a far greater impact than
using the same motivator to effect a minimum wage person from the
ghetto who is desperately struggling to meet the first couple of
needs. It should be noted that almost no one stays in one particular
hierarchy for an extended period. We constantly strive to move up,
while at the same time various forces outside our control try to
push us down. Those on top get pushed down for short time periods,
i.e., death of a loved-one or an idea that does not work, while
those on the bottom get pushed up, i.e., come across a small prize.
Our goal as leaders therefore is to help people obtain the skills
and knowledge that will push them up the hierarchy on a more
permanent basis. People who have their basic needs met become much
better workers as they are able to concentrate on fulfilling the
visions put forth to them, rather than consistently struggling to
make ends meet.
Characteristics of self-actualizing people:
- Have
better perceptions of reality and are comfortable with it.
-
Accept themselves and their own natures.
- Lack of artificiality.
- They focus on problems outside themselves and are concerned with
basic issues and eternal questions.
- They like privacy and tend
to be detached.
- Rely on their own development and continued
growth.
- Appreciate the basic pleasures of life (e.g., do not
take blessings for granted).
- Have a deep feeling of kinship with
others.
- Are deeply democratic and are not really aware of
differences.
- Have strong ethical and moral standards.
- Are
original, inventive, less constricted and fresher than others
Theory
X and Theory Y
Douglas McGreagor developed a philosophical view of
humankind with his Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor, 1957) , which
are two opposing perceptions about how people view human behaviour
at work and organizational life: Theory X
- People have an
inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible.
- People must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with
punishment in order to get them to achieve the organizational
objectives.
- People prefer to be directed, do not want
responsibility, and have little or no ambition.
- People seek
security above all else. Note that with
Theory X assumptions
- management's role is to coerce and control employees.
Theory Y
- Work is as natural as play and rest.
- People will exercise
self-direction if they are committed to the objectives (they are NOT
lazy).
- Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards
associated with their achievement.
- People learn to accept and
seek responsibility.
- Creativity, ingenuity, and imagination are
widely distributed among the population. People are capable of using
these abilities to solve an organizational problem.
- People have
potential. Note that with
Theory Y assumptions
- management's role is
to develop the potential in employees and help them to release that
potential towards common goals.
Theory X is the view that
traditional management has taken towards the workforce. Many
organizations are now taking the enlightened view of theory Y. A
boss can be viewed as taking the theory X approach, while a leader
takes the theory Y approach.
Herzberg's Hygiene and Motivational
Factors
Herzberg developed a list of factors (Herzberg, 1966) that
are based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, except his version is more
closely related to the working environment. Hygiene or
Dissatisfiers: Working conditions,
Policies and administrative practices, Salary and Benefits,
Supervision, Status, Job security, Co-workers, Personal life.
Motivators or Satisfiers: Recognition, Achievement, Advancement,
Growth, Responsibility, Job challenge. Hygiene factors must be
present in the job before motivators can be used to stimulate that
person. That is, you cannot use motivators until all the hygiene
factors are met.
Herzberg's needs are specifically job related and
reflect some of the distinct things that people want from their work
as opposed to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs which reflect all the
needs in a persons life. Building on this model, Herzberg coined the
term "job enrichment" to describe the process of
redesigning work in order to build in motivators. Notice that Maslow,
Herzberg, and McGreagor's theories all tie together:
- Herzberg's
theory is a micro version of Maslow's theory (concentrated in the
work place).
- McGreagor's Theory X is based on workers caught in
the lower levels (1 to 3) of Maslow's theory, while his Theory Y is
for workers who have gone above level 3.
- McGreagor's Theory X is
based on workers caught in Herberg's Hygiene Dissatisfiers, while
Theory Y is based on workers who are in the Motivators or Satisfiers
section.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter
David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates based
their work on the Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator (MBTI), which in turn
is based on the work of Carl Jung. Keirsey & Bates theorizes
that there are four temperaments or characters that personality is
based upon and although we have the capacity for all four
temperaments, we typically develop a dominate attitude or
predisposition for one of them. These temperaments are described
with the names of Greek gods of mythology, with whom they share
preferences and behaviours:
• Dionysian (Artisan) - This
temperament seeks freedom, values spontaneity, and resists being
constrained or obligated. They do things because the process of
doing them is pleasing, regardless of the goal or outcome. They are
action driven, here-and-now, and thrive on situations requiring
immediate response. They are optimists who are not easily
controlled. They are the ultimate trouble-shooters and negotiators.
They tend to dislike bosses, policies, and procedures.
• Epithean
(Guardian) - People with this temperament have strong affiliation
needs, a sense of duty, are keepers of traditions, get satisfaction
from giving, and have strong work ethics. They want recognition and
appreciation they believe is merited, but will not request it. They
are pessimists who elicits conformity to group norms. They like
making clear cut decisions and will follow established
organizational protocol without question.
• Promethian
(Rationalist) - This type of person understands, predicts, explains
and harness phenomena. They value competence in themselves and
others, thrive on challenges, and strive to control situations. They
are the most self-critical of all and consistently set higher goals
of perfection. They are almost never satisfied with accomplishments
and are embarrassed by praise. They are imaginative, analytical, and
like to build systems for the future. They will create sweeping
changes if they see the need.
• Apollonian (Idealist) - An
Apollonian sets extraordinary goals, even transcendent, that is hard
for them to even explain. They strive to "be real" and are
always in the process of "becoming." Work, relationships,
efforts, and goals must be imbued with "meaning." They are
hard workers if the cause is deemed worthwhile, and are tireless in
pursuit of a cause. Can be a gadfly in pursuing one goal after
another. They prefer the big picture over details, are cantered on
people and relationships, and would rather focus on ideas than
tasks. Leaders need all four types of temperaments on their team in
order to make it well rounded. All too often, inexperienced leaders
tend to choose people with their same temperament or favorite personality, thus their team becomes weak in that it cannot approach
problems and implementations from all sides of the spectrum. To
avoid this, balance your team and choose people from all walks of
life and with different personalities.
Existence/Relatedness/Growth
(ERG)
Clayton Alderfer's Existence/Relatedness/Growth (ERG) Theory
of Needs (Alderfer, 1969) postulates that there are three groups of
needs:
- Existence - This group of needs is concerned with
providing the basic requirements for material existence, such as
physiological and safety needs. This need is satisfied by money
earned in a job so that one may buy food, shelter, clothing, etc.
- Relationships - This group of needs center on or is built upon
the desire to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships.
Since a person normally spends approximately half of one's waking
hours on the job; this need is normally satisfied at least to some
degree by one's co-workers.
- Growth - These needs are met by
personal development. A person's job, career, or profession provides
for significant satisfaction of growth needs. Notice that this model
is also built upon Maslow's. Alderfer's ERG theory also states that
more than one need may be influential at the same time. If the
gratification of a higher-level need is frustrated, the desire to
satisfy a lower-level need will increase. He identifies this
phenomenon as the "frustration & shy aggression
dimension." Its relevance on the job is that even when the
upper-level needs are frustrated, the job still provides for the
basic physiological needs upon which one would then be focused. If,
at that point, something happens to threaten the job, the person's
basic needs are significantly threatened. If there are not factors
present to relieve the pressure, the person may become desperate and
panicky.
Expectancy Theory
Vroom's Expectancy Theory states that an
individual will act in a certain way based on the expectation that
the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. This motivational
model (Vroom, 1964) has been modified by several people, to include
Porter and Lawler (Porter et. al., 1968). Vroom's Expectancy Theory
is written as a formula:
Valence x Expectancy x Instrumentality =
Motivation
- Valence (Reward) = the amount of desire for a goal
(What is the reward?)
- Expectancy (Performance) = the strength of
belief that work related effort will result in the completion of the
task (How hard will I have to work to reach the goal?)
- Instrumentality (Belief) = the belief that the reward will be
received once the task is completed (Will they notice the effort I
put forth?) The product of valence, expectancy, and instrumentality
is motivation. It can be thought of as the strength of the drive
towards a goal. For example, if an employee wants to move up through
the ranks, then promotion has a high valence for that employee. If
the employee believes that high performance will result in good
reviews, then the employee has a high expectancy. However, if the
employee believes the company will not promote from within, then the
employee has low instrumentality, and the employee will not be
motivated to perform better.
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