Motivation in the workplace
... There are numerous theories into various ways and ideas of what motivates people both inside and outside of the workplace. ... By comparing these two works I hope to better understand the relevance of their use in the workplace. Maslow was an American psychologist who created a ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ in order to explain the different types of levels of motivation. ... Maslow’s work was not considered to be directly related to matters prevalent at the workplace, his studies were based entirely on human motivation. So whilst its is not necessarily relevant to the workplace can Maslow’s Hierarchy still prove to be a useful tool to managers. ... Maslow’s hierarchy is still not as useful as other motivational theories in today’s workplace. De-motivators and a wider range of factors that contribute to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction that were covered in Herzbergs work give a much more in-depth outlook on workplace motivation. ... Maslows work helps to understand the needs in a more open scale, but put to the test in a workplace environment is not as useful. So, is Maslow’s hierarchy still considered a relevant tool within the 21st century workplace? I believe that Maslow’s hierarchy can still be considered somewhat useful in today’s workplace, but since Maslow’s work was not aimed directly at motivation in the workplace that there are better motivational tools available. While I do not completely dismiss Maslows work, believe it has its limits in its usefulness in the modern workplace. It cannot explain the motivational needs of every person, some people take jobs for more than just the money and it fails to cover de-motivational factors, it just doesn’t give enough depth of the motivational processes in the workplace. Herzbergs work developed on Maslows and given deeper insight into motivation. I would consider his work to be of much more use than Maslows in workplace motivation as it gave motivators and hygiene factors and a much wider range of subjects and how they affect employees.