Introduction
Considering labor as an economic category, it can be characterized as an activity aimed at meeting the needs of society and the individual. When considering work in the context of employer-employee relations, it becomes evident that work is a mutually beneficial process. However, the interaction process between the boss and subordinates is much more complicated.
Many other factors, such as environmental factors, the socio-psychological climate in the team, and employee motivation, influence the relationship between senior management and ordinary employees. Motivation is based on various resources, such as those offered by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs or Herzberg in his two-factor theory of motivation-hygiene, ensuring effective employee workflow engagement.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow’s theory is the first work that analyzes human needs and their impact on motivation in detail. In his hierarchy, Maslow divided needs into five categories. According to this theory, the average person satisfies his needs in order from the lowest to the highest (McLeod, 2023). Having formed an idea of what place the subordinate occupies in the scale of needs, the manager will be able to effectively influence the employee’s motivation by selecting appropriate methods of influence.
If the working conditions, which address physiological needs, do not align with a specific social norm, the presentation of awards and recognition of the employee’s merits, which fulfill the need for recognition and self-affirmation, will not adequately contribute to increasing motivation. Even though this theory has several vulnerable points – for example, not every society satisfies needs in this order – today, the hierarchy of needs developed by Abraham Maslow is considered universal. It describes the mechanism of influence on an employee’s motivation level based on their needs in the best possible way.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation-Hygiene
According to Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation, favorable conditions are not motivation. People appreciate a clean workplace or an office that has everything needed for comfortable work. However, convenience and cleanliness will never replace the pleasure or satisfaction of contributing to the work process (Nickerson, 2023). Motivators from Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation are directly related to the very essence of the work. They increase a person’s satisfaction, encourage them to enhance their qualifications, and foster professional growth.
Frederick Herzberg believed motivating employees with a salary increase was a bad idea. Employers doing this will be very disappointed. There is an explanation for this. As soon as people become accustomed to the premium or premium, this factor will cease to be motivational for them and will become a hygiene factor (Nickerson, 2023). This is easy to explain from a psychological perspective: for a person, motivation is always the desire to obtain something.
Conclusion
One key criterion for successful interaction between superiors and subordinates is the selective combination of economic and non–economic methods to influence the level of employee motivation. One can use both the resources offered by Maslow and the resources listed by Herzberg for motivation. In most cases, such methods require certain financial costs, whether paying for an employee’s health insurance or organizing free meals. However, if properly applied, these methods will pay off in the medium term.
References
McLeod, S. (2023). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Simply Psychology. Web.
Nickerson, C. (2023). Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation-hygiene. Simply Psychology. Web.