Motivational Theories and application to the Garment Industry

Motivational Theories

Motivational theories help in identifying the human behavior and desires which will differ from one individual to another (Venugopalan, 2007). Application of motivational theories have helped the managers to identify the needs of the employees who have different objectives and goals in their lives (Haque, et al., 2014).

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Figure 4 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
               

(slideshare.net, 2015)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is theory of motivation which has been designed by Abraham Maslow. It discusses about 5 levels of needs which should be fulfilled in order to become a healthy individual (Pardee, 2019).

First level is the physiological needs which include breathing, food, water (Shanks, 2019). The organizations thereby have to take necessary steps in fulfilling the physiological needs of its employees in order to keep them motivated while increasing the performance. Most of the garments in Sri Lanka have taken the initiative of developing a healthy working environment which provides a decent attractive salary with other facilities such as meals and transport in their office premises as well as the factories.

Second level is the safety needs which should be accomplished in order to make the employees feel safe and stable (Ball, 2019). This includes personal security, job security, health and wellbeing that should be fulfilled in order keep the employees motivated and happy. The garment industry employees become permanent employees thus increase job security and further factories strictly follow the OSHA standards of safety while working in the premises.

The third type of need is love/belonging also known as social needs which talks mainly about family and friendship (Burton, 2012). The organization should create an environment where the employees can create good relationships/friendships. This can be done by organizing special events, training and programs. Organization should also provide a hand to their employees in maintaining a good work-life balance as family plays an important role in every individual’s life. The supervises need to maintain good people management skills and make employees feel that they are part the team, thus increasing the motivation through the third layer with a sense of belonging. Training on people management need to be given to supervisors to increase people skills.

Fourth is the esteem needs which includes self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others and respect by others (Stirling, 2014). This type of needs brings social acceptance, strength, recognition and are mandatory in motivating as well as retaining the employees. Garment factories often reward employee of the month, and better salaries with allowances, latest motor vehicles for senior management to motivate using the fourth layer.

The final type of needs is self-actualization needs which consists of morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts. This is the highest type of needs/motivation which provides individual fulfillment or acceptance (Gopalan, et al., 2017).                                                                          

Video 4 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - What motivates us?
                                                                     
                                                                                
(Bing.com, 2019)

References

Ball, B., 2019. A summary of motivation theories , s.l.: s.n.
.
Bing.com. (2019). maslow's hierarchy of needs for motivation - Bing video. [online] Available at: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=maslow%27s+hierarchy+of+needs+for+motivation&&view=detail&mid=F8D8E3186079A1282873F8D8E3186079A1282873&&FORM=VRDGAR [Accessed 11 Oct. 2019].

Burton , K., 2012. A Study of Motivation: How to Get Your Employees Moving , s.l.: s.n.

Gopalan , V., Abubakar, J. A., Zulkifli, A. N. & Alwi, A. B., 2017. A review of the motivation theories in learning, s.l.: s.n.

Haque, M. F., Islam, M. S. & Haque, M. A., 2014. Motivational Theories – A Critical Analysis, s.l.: s.n.

Pardee, R. L., 2019. Motivation Theories of Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor & McClelland. A Literature Review of Selected Theories Dealing with Job Satisfaction and Motivation, s.l.: s.n.

Shanks, N. H., 2019. Management and Motivation, s.l.: s.n.
slideshare.net, 2015. slideshare.net. [Online]
Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/khalfyard/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-53418636

Stirling , D., 2014. Motivation in Education, s.l.: s.n.

Venugopalan, O., 2007. Theories of Motivation, s.l.: s.n.


Comments

  1. Sahan Perera9 November 2019 at 07:47

    Adding more to the post, Maslow assumes that there are several prerequisites for meeting these needs. For example, having the independence of speech and expression, or living in a fair and equitable society, is not specifically mentioned in the hierarchy of needs. However, Maslow believes that having these things makes it easier for people to meet their needs. Although Maslow puts forward his own needs in the hierarchy, he also acknowledges that satisfying each need is not a complete or no phenomenon. Therefore, people do not need to fully meet the next requirement in the hierarchy(Goyal, 2012).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chathura Kularathna5 December 2019 at 02:03

      Thank you, Maslow (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. However, he later clarified that satisfaction of a needs is not an “all-or-none” phenomenon, admitting that his earlier statements may have given “the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges”

      Delete
  2. Chandran Thivajanaarthan13 November 2019 at 08:03

    I agree with above. However there are criticisms regarding above theory. Nadler & Lawler (1979), argue that the theory makes the following unrealistic assumptions about employees in general that; all employees are alike, all situations are alike and that and there is only one best way to meet needs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chathura Kularathna5 December 2019 at 02:04

      Thank you, True it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow's concept of self-actualization in a way that causal relationships can be established. This is not always the case, and therefore Maslow's hierarchy of needs in some aspects has been falsified (Ellnor, 1999).

      Delete
  3. Nayani Poornima30 November 2019 at 07:23

    Agreed on your article while adding to this organization success depend on employees behavior and output (von Rosenstiel, 2011). Maslow"s needs of hierarchy argue that there are five stages of human needs that motivate behavior. According to Kavya and Padmavathy, 2017 it is the best way to motivate and engage the employee to the organization.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chathura Kularathna5 December 2019 at 02:04

      Thank you, With Maslow’s theory, an employee’s beginning emphasis on the lower order needs of physiology and security makes sense. Generally, a person beginning their career will be very concerned with physiological needs such as adequate wages and stable income and security needs such as benefits and a safe work environment. We all want a good salary to meet the needs of our family and we want to work in a stable environment (Borris, 2014)

      Delete
  4. Namal4 December 2019 at 16:13

    Hi Chathura ,
    To add more to the content, the practical implication of Maslow’s theory suggests the management on how to make their employees achieve the final stage of the pyramid. Employees reaching the final stage of self-actualization is vital to an organization as such employees work at their maximum potential creativity. Hence formulating strategies to achieve this stage may benefit the organization (Kaur, 2010).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chathura Kularathna5 December 2019 at 02:05

      Thank You, With self-actualization, the employee will be interested in growth and individual development. He will also need to be skilled at what he does. He may want a challenging job, an opportunity to complete further education, increased freedom from supervision, or autonomy to define his own processes for meeting organizational objectives. At this highest level, managers focus on promoting an environment where an employee can meet his own self-actualization needs (Justlow, 2011)

      Delete
  5. Dumindu Ranasinghe2 February 2020 at 10:49

    Hi Chathura, According to Maslow (Laurie, 2010) the human needs are hierarchical. But, in real life, it is difficult to find systems which are hierarchical and can be grouped by levels. Furthermore, in most of the organizational systems are complex, and evolve dynamically It requires social connections and collaborations with the external environment to keep going. In other words, the success of an employee is determined by the ability of the person to create multiple social interactions within and outside the company premises (Samuel and Chipunza, 2009).

    ReplyDelete

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