Examining Your Theorist
Abraham Maslow’s theory of human motivation is based on the idea of motivation. Abraham Maslow believed that human beings are motivated by different things as they develop in their career and age towards maturity. Maslow developed five main stages of human development. The stages are arranged according to necessity. First are the basic needs, security, love, esteem then self actualization. People get motivation by the need to attain these levels through self development. Individuals always seek to enhance their experiences, careers and knowledge as they work, grow and learn. The five human motivation steps must follow the given order. Human beings require motivation in order to perform well and are psychologically set to improve. Since every person wants to develop, they must be given the platform to improve themselves by motivating them.
This theory can be used in management to motivate employees in their efforts at work and in personal development. Managers can use this theory to identify what various employees need to be psychologically motivated simply by using the hierarchy of needs invented by Maslow. Motivation comes in the form of offering the employees a chance to improve their career through promotions and extra responsibilities, financial incentives and frequent encouragement. This will ensure that even as the organization attains its goals, the employees are also benefiting from what they do. Practicing managers should use this theory when seeking to understand human psychological development. The theory has very little to do with culture. Culture is only focused on when putting the theory into practice. This will require that organizations introduce an organizational culture where by the organization seeks to attain its goals as well as help employees develop themselves into experienced individuals through motivation.
Questions that can be posed to Maslow include;
How can Maslow’s hierarchy of needs be used in motivating employees in an organization?
What is the relationship between human psychological development, motivation and the hierarchy of needs?
Is the theory of human motivation practical?
What are the responsibilities of a manager when implementing this theory?
What are the weak points of this theory?
The theorist would focus mainly on emphasizing the practicality of his theory especially in the field of management. The hierarchy of needs is closely intertwined with human motivation because it is the needs of an individual that give him the motivation to work. The theorist would also argue that the manager plays and overseeing role in implementing this theory since it is the management that should develop a plan of motivating employees. The manager will then have to oversee the plan implementation. The weak links in the theory are its inability to focus on the end result of human development. If all human beings attained self actualization, the organization would not have people working as junior people because most people will develop personal egos hence affecting the organizational performance.
Maslow would also use Eupsychian Management Theory to address the questions. The theory is about a kind of management where all workers are given friendly environments to ensure they perform efficiently and attain happiness, which is basically self actualization. In this aspect, the management is actively involved in helping workers develop individually. This management approach is based on 36 main principles and assumptions about individual workers and the organization’s management.
References
Schultz, Duane P and Sydney Ellen Schultz. Theories of Personality. 8, illustrated. London: Cengage Learning, 2005.
