Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in a business context

Maslow – The Hierarchy of Needs: I have been wanting to write about the hierarchy of needs for quite some time. During the early days, this was one of the theories which had a formative impact on understanding people.

Although the theory belongs to the 1940s and a lot of it is not as valid anymore. I still find some of it valuable enough for us to derive use from and define our leadership strategies:

The 5 hierarchy of needs as per Maslow are:

1. Physiological Needs:

Food, water, etc – are the very basics. In a modern-day work environment, I would classify this as workspace, health and safety considerations, etc.

2. Safety Needs:

Maybe we can pivot this towards job security, processes for grievances, feeling safe in a working environment, etc

3. Social Needs:

I could classify this as being accepted by or a part of a team. It is easy to isolate people, particularly in remote working scenarios. Naturally, it takes a conscious effort to ensure belongingness in a team.

4. Self Esteem Needs:

We are now venturing into the pristine requirements of a person. We are looking at why people do what they really do. What does it make them feel and how important a job is for them? Also, it is equally relevant to note how this translates into self-respect and belongingness

5. Self Actualisation:

I would have liked this to be the first one. This probably is the beauty of combining individual motivations towards a business goal. Personally, for me, this signifies a perfect marriage between a company’s vision/mission and an individual’s desires. If we can connect the two, it takes leadership and success to a completely new level altogether.

Business Goals Vs Individual Aspirations

This entire section talks about two significant areas of consideration for a leader. On one end, it is the responsibility towards a business, its goals, and aspirations.

On the other hand, it is about the aspirations of individuals within the business. In other words, the team that creates every success a business can claim to its name.

It is certainly a hard task to integrate the two and not many companies are able to do it very successfully. Maybe that is why it is a fantastic challenge to take on. It might mean that the onus on a leadership role increases slightly. But to be honest, that onus was always there, it is just that it has not always been done very well.

Vision, Mission and Goals Vs Hierarchy of Needs

In a recent discussion, we talked about the need for missions, visions, and goals in an organisation. A nice read on these lines was from Simon Sinek about the limitation of visions when they are tied to activity. Having seen quite a few vision documents and mission statements, I they all sound very similar

• Achieving X% growth
• Customer service and customer satisfaction parameters
• Product quality and innovation

The list can go on quite easily. I would like to circle back to the question of – how this tie to the hierarchy of needs for an individual. Why should these visions/missions matter to the people we are working with?

In other words, what are we doing to ensure that this makes a difference for the team as much as it does for a business beyond the desire for additional profits?

A Common Aim and Individual Commitment

The simple thread for motivation is to try and drive the energies of a team in the direction which can impact significant change. The vision cannot be simple statements which will not mean a lot to the team. It needs to be beyond that.

As a leader, the onus is not just to have our eyes on the projections and Excel sheets. It is to move beyond that and start thinking about the differences we can make. The differences are about individuals and the work environment they are a part of. It is also about how this can be connected to the overall wider company’s desires.

Of course, it is a tough job and naturally, there is a lot to do. But that cannot be an excuse as to why we cannot try to move in that direction.