Do you know what drives your employees?

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​Employee engagement is a key ingredient when it comes to driving a positive workplace culture, retaining talent, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity – the list goes on and it all sits on the positive column.  But how do you keep your team engaged and firing on all cylinders?   This is where Abraham Maslow and his Hierarchy of Needs comes in….

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​MASLOWS HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Maslow was an eminent psychologist who created the hierarchy of needs model to illustrate his theory that people need to satisfy their basic needs such as warmth, safety and security before being able to meet more complex needs such as self-actualisation.  That is, that higher needs in the hierarchy begin to emerge when people feel they have sufficiently satisfied the previous need.

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MASLOWS HIERARCHY OF NEEDS APPLIED TO EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
When we consider employee engagement in terms of this hierarchy, basic needs such as salary and work conditions must be satisfied before reaching the higher-level needs such as feeling essential to the business.  This can be summarised in the following diagram:

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU AS AN EMPLOYER?
 
Identifying the needs of your employees and finding ways to support their fulfilment is the key, but how do you go about it? 
 
Let’s break it down:

Physiological needs (also referred to as survival) – bottom line, we all need money to live so ensuring you are paying your people a wage that is enough to live on is the first step.  Let’s be clear though, just because your receptionist thinks she should be able to buy Manolo Blahniks every week, you don’t have to agree as this is not realistic from a basic business premise.  Australia has minimum wage levels set and reviewed each year, but you may determine that your employees should be paid above the award and that is ultimately your call.  There needs to be management of expectations set that remuneration is tied to the position, experience, ability, qualifications and any other criteria you see fit.
 
Safety (also referred to as security) – this isn’t just about keeping the workplace accident free.  This element of the theory is about ensuring your employees jobs are secure and that they aren’t afraid to make decisions or mistakes without their job being threatened each time.  If you have managers or leaders that rule by fear, you can not deliver on the basic need of safety and your team will feel demoralised and defeated.  And yes, your business will suffer as a result. Unfortunately we see a lot of people promoted to management or leadership roles without being trained or coached in effective leadership, so we see people defaulting to authoritative leadership, creating fear, because they don’t know any better. (Takeaway – invest in your leaders to improve engagement).

Belonging – creating and supporting a strong team-focused culture will drive a sense of belonging within your employees.  Most of us need to feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves and for a business, it is an incredibly motivational feeling if your team feels connected and valued to the ongoing goals and vision of your business.

Esteem – remember to recognise teams and individuals on their achievements.  Sometimes it’s easy to think our team feels valued but if you don’t tell them or acknowledge contributions, how will they ever know?  As with Belonging, employees that feel valued and that know their input is contributing to the overall business success are employees who feel satisfied and maintain motivation.

Self actualisation – this top tier of the motivational hierarchy isn’t reached without all the other pieces of the puzzle being in place.  Your employees can hit this peak if you have provided them with the tools, training, experience, culture and empowerment to do their work.  This is the level of engagement where they will inspire others around them and perform at their best levels.

SOMETHING ELSE TO CONSIDER
​Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is not a one size fits all.   Each of your employees will have differing internal and external needs such as mortgages/rent, material needs (or what may be viewed as a need), internal motivation, life experience, need for approval, desire to earn, reason for working and so forth.  The principals of the theory are still applicable, but the more you understand the human need behind the individual employee, the better you will understand where they fit within the hierarchy.

If you are looking to build engagement amongst your team and are unsure as to where to start, contact the HR Staff n’ Stuff team and we can address your individual needs with training, workshops, recognition programs – we’ll help you to find the solution that suits your business.

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