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山东科技大学泰山科技学院学生毕业设计（论文）
identify the various benefits organizations can offer to satisfy their employees’ needs and, in turn, increase revenues and reduce expenses. Psychology professor Abraham Maslow’s theory, proposed in 1943, identifies the five basic human needs that underlie all human activity.
Fundamental behavior
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the fundamental theories of personal motivation. The theory can help organizations design programs to motivate their employees, retain employee loyalty, reduce turnover, recruit quality individuals and ultimately increase productivity and net income. A. Kinicki and R. Kreitner, in their book Organizational Behavior, identify and define the five basic human needs that comprise Maslow’s hierarchy. The five human needs, presented in hierarchical order from the most basic to the most advanced,
are
physiological,
safety,
love/belonging,
esteem
and
self-actualization.
According to Maslow, each need has to be satisfied substantially in order for an individual to progress to the next level. Managers are able to motivate their employees by providing rewards that help satisfy the need that is operational and prevalent at any point in time. Once a need has been satisfied substantially, it ceases to be a motivator. Then, employees move to the next level in the need hierarchy and work on satisfying those needs.
1. Physiological needs
Maslow defined the physiological need as the most basic. It includes the need for food, air, water and shelter as well as the need to be active, to rest and to sleep. The most obvious motivational item in this category is monetary compensation, which includes wages and salaries, bonuses, stock options and retirement plans. Wages and salaries make up about 80 percent of what companies spend to compensate their employees. Many individuals would list salary as one of the most important factors when considering a job. Money is a
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山东科技大学泰山科技学院学生毕业设计（论文）
vital part of employees’reward packages and helps fulfill the bulk of their physiological needs. Food, clothing and a place to live can be obtained with the wage or salary a person earns.
Providing a comfortable work environment also helps satisfy physiological needs. Clean and fresh air to breathe and an ergonomic workspace, keyboard and mouse can help employees perform without distraction and keep them motivated. Other benefits offered to satisfy employees’ physiological needs are free or subsidized cafeterias, regular break times and break rooms stocked with drinks and food.
Many companies provide free food for their employees so that they are satisfied on this level and able to engage more fully in their workplace activities. For example, A. Lashinsky in Fortune describes Google’s 11 gourmet cafeterias at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters where employees can eat for free. Other free (and subsidized) perks that companies provide include car washes, laundry and dry cleaning facilities, onsite gyms, exercise classes, massages and discounts on company products. Providing perks for free or at a subsidy helps reduce employees’expenses, which indirectly gives them more discretionary income to purchase other necessary items that help satisfy basic physiological needs and beyond.
Another employee benefit that is becoming more important for companies to provide is a healthy work-life balance. Work-life balance is considered a physiological need since one needs to engage in enough nonwork activity and rest to have a healthy lifestyle. Increasingly, employees are considering work-life balance as an important goal and factor the potential for this into their decision of whether to work for a company. It is not uncommon for a job candidate to reject a job offer because it did not include a good work-life balance. Most recruiters say work-life balance considerations are more important now than they were five or 10 years ago.
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山东科技大学泰山科技学院学生毕业设计（论文）
In order to accommodate the work-life balance needs of potential employees and attract the best possible applicants, companies have developed greater levels of flexibility, offering programs like telecommuting, on-site fitness centers, on-site laundry facilities, flexible workweeks and hours, and the ability to work from home a few days a week. In addition, employees seek greater balance through vacation time and extra days off during the holidays to help them enjoy life outside of work, have more balance in their lives and be more productive once they are back at the workplace.
2. Safety need
The safety need, as defined by Maslow, consists of the need to be safe from physical and psychological harm. As with physiological needs, wages and salaries help to provide a safe place to live, a basic need. Another factor that is as important as a safe place to live is a sense of security regarding an employee’s health (both physical and mental). According to a study by J. MacDonald from EBRI, corporate America spent $596.5 billion on health benefits in 2005. In prior decades, perhaps only the employee received health insurance. Today, it is expected that companies extend health coverage to family members. In addition, companies are providing disability and life insurance, which adds to the feeling of long-term safety and security and helps build employee trust and loyalty.
Another major component used to satisfy safety needs is the provision of retirement plans. Employees derive an overall sense of long-term security with the knowledge that they are able to provide for themselves during their retirement years. The most popular and widely used employer-sponsored plan is the 401(k), in which the employer matches a portion of the employee’s contribution. Companies that do not provide a matching contribution find themselves at a disadvantage in attracting, hiring and retaining the most qualified individuals.
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山东科技大学泰山科技学院学生毕业设计（论文）
Finally, as a way to help with emotional and mental wellbeing, companies are providing employee assistance programs and counseling services. These programs provide psychological security through the use of qualified professionals who can be accessed through a confidential helpline (where employees call in to speak with trained counselors to help them with problems ranging from conflict and stress at the workplace to personality disorders and recovery from addiction) or face-to-face meetings with trained counselors who can help employees cope with their emotional difficulties.
3. love/belonging needs
The desire to love and to be loved is the third tier in Maslow’s hierarchy and includes the need for affection and belonging. Individuals who are looking to satisfy their love/belonging needs are likely to join or continue working at a company based on the relationships and social support mechanisms they have established or potentially expect to establish there. Two important sources of social support for employees include co-workers and bosses.
Cohesive teams benefit employers as well as employees. Teams are able to produce synergy (output that is greater than the sum of all the individual parts). Thus, a company can become more efficient and develop new and creative ideas by allowing employees to collaborate and work in teams. This is a win-win situation for the company since it also will help satisfy the belonging needs of its employees. Other programs that companies have implemented to meet the belonging need of employees are company luncheons, banquets, retreats, company-sponsored sports teams, clubs, mentoring and programs that allow employees to bring children and pets to work. In addition, open plan offices and break rooms where employees have opportunities to meet and interact with one another help satisfy belonging needs.
4. esteem need
Maslow’s esteem need includes the needs for responsibility, reputation,
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