Organizations can meet the human needs identified by Maslow by studying and implementing the motivational factors specified by Herzberg.
The similarity of Herzberg's motivational factors and Maslow's esteem and self-actualization needs is addressed by the following questions: "What do people really want from their work?" "How do organizations go about meeting these needs or ensuring that the needs are met?"
The answer is in the awareness of what workers want from the work they carry out for organizations. As Maslow stated, people generally have five human needs: physiological needs, safety needs, social belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization (later described as transcendence). It is only when the basic needs (physiological needs, safety needs, and social belonging and love needs) are satisfied in that order, that workers would seek self-esteem and self-actualization or transcendence. It is also at this level of seeking self-esteem and self-actualization that organizations would derive the greatest benefits from their workers. It then behoves organizations to ensure that the basic needs are not denied, but to push forward to help their workers attain self-esteem and self-actualization.
Herzberg's motivational factors show that it is the responsibility of organizations to ensure that their workers achieve a sense of achievement in the work they do. They should also be recognized for doing good jobs. The nature of the work should be such that it does not demean the worker. There should be dignity of labor. Workers achieve more when they are made responsible for the outcome of their work. Being assigned responsibilities help them to advance and and grow. Organizations also need to manage well the extrinsic job elements that Herzberg identified as "hygiene factors," which concentrate on the work environment.
Explanation:
a) Frederick Herzberg identified certain job factors that bring about employee job satisfaction whereas others can create job dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, "motivating factors (also called satisfiers) are primarily intrinsic job elements that lead to satisfaction, such as achievement, recognition, the (nature of) work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth." The dissatisfiers, on the other hand, he called "hygiene factors." They are "extrinsic elements of the work environment such as company policy, relationships with supervisors, working conditions, relationships with peers and subordinates, salary and benefits, and job security, which can result in job dissatisfaction if not well managed." An interesting result of Herzberg’s studies was that "the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction." Herzberg's studies established that proper management of hygiene factors could prevent employee dissatisfaction, but that these factors could not serve as a source of satisfaction or motivation. The summary is that motivational factors are quite distinct from hygiene factors.
b) Maslow identified the following hierarchy of human needs: physiological needs, safety needs, social belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization (later described as transcendence). The hierarchy of needs, according to Maslow, show how humans essentially partake in behavioral motivation. The summary of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs is that "people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs."
