MOTIVATION

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is based on a pyramid of needs that people have which they pursue, these needs drive motivation.  The pyramid can be related to both work and personal life and depending on the situation and time a person will rise and fall between the levels on the pyramid.

There are five levels on the pyramid:

Self-Actualisation- Challenging projects, learning and creating at a high level.

Ego/Esteem-         Decision making, confident, achievement and respect

Social-                    Friends and family, belongings and sexual intimacy

Safety-                    Secure employment, property, family, health and resources

Physiological-       Basic needs to survive, shelter, food and water, sleep, homeostasis and excretion

My Motivation

I was motivated to attend Buckingham New University to study Business Management as in the near future I would like to own a small farm park.  To be able to make this happen I felt I need to study business as I already have the animal knowledge.  I feel on Maslow's hierarchy I definitely have reached Social and am slowly reaching Ego/ Esteem on the pyramid.  Here is how Maslow's hierarchy is relevant to me at university.

Physiological needs

My physiological needs are met at university as I am living in halls and have a maintenance loan which allows me to pay for shelter and buy food and water.  I have a bed, bathroom and kitchen which means I can perform basic needs.

Safety

I feel safe and secure as I have signed a contract for brook street halls for a year.  My studies are secure as I have successfully enrolled on the course and I have the resources for my course and to live.

Social

I chose Buckinghamshire New University as I am only an hour away from home and this is because I am close to my family and friends and want to be able to visit them frequently.  I have also made friends in my halls and on my course.

Ego/Esteem

I feel I am slowly entering this level as I am becoming more comfortable with the work and the course as this is a new subject for me.  As work is set, feedback and grades are given I feel my confidence will grow as I will have more understanding of my achievements.

Within the next three years while at university I think my motivation will only increase and I learn more as I am set more challenges, within the first month I feel I am already very motivated.  This has not always been the case. 

When living in USA I was employed by American Eagle, although the quality of the clothes and the shop is really good as an employer I was not very motivated.  I am able to apply Aldefer's ERG theory and understand why.

E- Existence needs.  These were met as I lived with my parents and had a house with working bathroom, kitchen and bedroom where I was able to perform basic needs.  However my employment did not have set hours, so although my job was secure I could be given different amounts of hours each week which would mean I had a variable income.  My hours were also given to me every week so it was hard to plan my social activities, which affected my relatedness needs.

R- Relatedness needs.  Not having the ability to plan my social activities meant I would sometimes miss out on activities with friends.  Also being in a foreign country and not going to high school meant making friends was hard to do.  The staff at American Eagle also changed frequently meaning establishing friendships was difficult.  My parents and I were living together however I did miss other parts of my family.

G- Growth needs.  There were challenges set such as credit card targets to sell however I would never have had a credit card with the company so didn't truly believe in the product I was selling which made it hard.  The daily tasks were basic such as folding clothes and trying to sell clothes/outfits to customers and I didn't feel motivated by these tasks.

I felt more motivated when I was moved around the shop more often and given different jobs such as meet and greet, I enjoyed this as it was easy to start a conversation with customers as they enjoyed my accent.  Also working in the back was good as it was a change to being on the shop floor every day.  Having set hours would have really changed my attitude towards work because I would know how much money I would be earning each week and could plan my social life a lot more easily.

All these theories that have been studied can be related to the work place such as Herzberg's two-factor theory some however like Maslow's hierarchy of needs also take into account lifestyle as well.  These theories were created a long time ago, 1950s, and may no long be relevant to the 21st century.  This is clear to see with physiological needs as many people live at home and their physiological needs are met by their parents and not because of their job.  The research bases for these theories are a very small proportion of around 260people.  These theories are very similar to one another and quite brief as many people can be motivated by much more specific things such as bonuses, training, share schemes and commission.