Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs In Relation to a Bank

Introduction

Abraham Maslow, founder of humanistic psychology developed the hierarchy of need which has five levels. His identification of needs has played a major role in the development of organizational leadership which gave him the title ‘the father of modern management and leadership’. Maslow’s theory is mainly based on personal motivations and desire of fulfilling their personal potentials. In this motivational theory, needs in the lower down hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to the higher level needs (J Venter Ph.D., 2012). This theory played an important role in job satisfaction and improvement in organizational performance (Kaur, 2013).

In modern days, managers should recognize that motivation is the main determiners of success. Therefore, managers need to understand and create a culture of motivated employees who put up the production. Motivation causes someone to get in to the work and get it done (Sekhar et al., 2013). And also, it makes to spend more or less to increase quality and performance of the organization. It increases the production of mental efforts which links to knowledge and skill. Therefore, if employees are not motivated, it will reduce the performance of the organization (L. Elliott, Turgeon and Atik, 2017)

As described by Maslow, people have various needs because of biological, psychological and social aspects followed by a hierarchical order which is beginning with physical needs, social and psychological needs at the top. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory which is considered as the most important study about motivation has created the “hierarchy of needs pyramid” by putting the needs in to a certain order (Uysal, Genç and Aydemir, 2017)

Figure 04 : Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Source : (McLeod, 2018).

Factors Explanation

Physiological Needs

This is the lowest order need and the most basic need in the triangle. Food, air, water and shelter are fundamental biological needs which are in the physiological needs. As Maslow said, organizations must provide enough wages to every employee to facilitate their adequate living conditions. The rationale of this is, it will be very difficult to contribute much to the organization if the employees are hungry (Kaur, 2013).

As an example, from the financial institution where i work for, the bank is paying their employees a competitive salary to meet their physiological needs. Further, the bank considers the increases in cost of living and offers wage revisions periodically. 

Safety Needs 

This represents the second stage of the hierarchy. This will be applied after satisfying the physiological need. This means employees need an environment without any harms and threats; protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear (McLeod, s. A., 2018). The rationale of this is, employee needs a free harmless environment to work well in an organization. 

Governments all over the world impose compulsory safety standards for organizations to ensure the health and well being of their employees. Further, my current employer, a leading private bank in the country also ensures that the work environment is safe for employees by providing adequate health and safety measures, medical insurance facilities for employees and their immediate family members.

Belongings and love Needs

Maslow (1987) states when physiological and safety needs are fulfilled; people are in hunger for searching supportive relations. Interpersonal attachments and feeling a sense of belonging with others is essential for people. So, for those who have developed belongingness with other individual or groups can increase survival with these attachments (Ainsworth 1989). To meet these needs, organizations encourage employees to participate in social events such as trips, informal parties.

Likewise, banks organize family trips, inter branch get together to fulfill their employees’ love and belonging needs.

Esteem Needs

This includes the need for self-respect and approval of others. A human being needs others with whom he can interact to feel good about himself within a network of social relationships and also to have a fulfilling sense of esteem, one needs the respect of others as well (Taormina and Gao, 2013).

The bank organizes awards ceremonies to celebrate noted achievements of the employees. Also, by facilitating internal promotions, and reimbursing higher education expenses, employees get motivated.

 Self actualization Needs

Highest theory in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As described by Maslow (1987) this helps a person to become actualized in what he is capable of and his desire for self-fulfillment and tendency. These are needs to be appreciated and respected by others related to that person’s reputation.  The rationale of this stage is self-actualized employee is a valuable asset to the organization (Kaur, 2013).

Bank has spent Millions of Money over the employee training and development to make them attached to the organization and develops their carrier in it. Bank is expecting to protect the Trustworthiness towards their customer base through their highly motivated employees. 

References

·         Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1989). Attachment Beyond Infancy. American Psychologist, 44, 709–716.

·         C. Sekhar, M. Patwardhan & R.Kr. Singh, “A Literature Review on Motivation,” International Network of Business and Management, Glob. Bus. Perspect, 1:471–487, 2013.

·         J Venter Ph.D., H., 2012. Maslow’s Self-Transcendence: How It Can Enrich Organization Culture and Leadership. International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology, 02(07).

·         Kaur, A., 2013. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Applications and Criticisms. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, [online] 3(10). Available at: <http://www.ripublication.com/gjmbs.htm>.

·         L. Elliott, R., Turgeon, E. and Atik, A. ed., 2017. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in 21st century: The Examination of Vocational Differences. In: researches on science and art in 21st century turkey, 1st ed. Gece Kitaplığı, pp.221-227.

·         Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and Personality (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

· McLeod, S., 2018. Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs. [ebook] Available at: <https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html>.

·       Taormina and Gao, 2013. Maslow and the Motivation Hierarchy: Measuring Satisfaction of the Needs. The American Journal of Psychology, 126(2), p.155.

·     Uysal, H., Genç, E. and Aydemir, S., 2017. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in 21st Century: The Examination of Vocational Differences. 1st Ed.