Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954)
Maslow developed his theory of the hierarchy of needs based upon the notion that workers follow a sequence of events, which must follow a specified order, in an attempt to gratify their feelings about their work. Maslow believed that people often find it difficult to express what incentive they seek from their work, and that it is difficult for management to give workers what the desire without knowing what it is the workers truly want. The first aspect of the hierarchy of needs which must be met is the physiological needs of human beings. Physiological needs include the items every person needs for survival, such as food, oxygen, shelter, water, sleep, etc. The second need in the hierarchy is the need for safety. Without feeling safe, people cannot focus on the tasks at hand. Love and belongingness are the third need identified by Maslow. Human beings are not solitary creatures, and it is important to establish relationships with others. After the first three needs are met, people seek out those needs which qualify as esteem needs, in order to feel good about themselves. Finally, human beings require self-actualization, and this need encompasses the need to learn new things for pleasure the sake of learning (Ormrod, 2008).
Herzberg’s Theory of Motivators and Hygiene Factors (1959)
Herzberyg’s theory of motivations and hygiene factors discusses two types of motivators workers deal with at their jobs, satisfiers and dissatisfiers. The satisfiers, the concepts which motivated workers to do well at their jobs, included recognition, achievement, responsibility, the work being done, and advancement. The dissatisfiers, or the so-called hygiene factors, are the parts of the job that are based more upon the environment in which one works. Examples of dissatisfiers are salary, working conditions, supervision, company policy, and relationships between coworkers. Satisfiers refer to how one feels about the job they do, while dissatisfiers represent the environment or situations in which one works (Gawel, 1997).
References
Gawel, J. (1997). Herzberg's theory of motivation and maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from pareonline.net: http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=11
Motivation. (2010). Retrieved April 20, 2010, from bing.com: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=motivation&FORM=BILH#
Ormrod, J. (2008). Human learning (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
