Why People Work for You – Essential Knowledge for People Management
If you employ people then give thanks to Abraham Maslow for a simple and useful insight into why they might work for you. Maslow postulated a “hierarchy of human needs” which when interpreted into the context of employment ran something like this:
- First come “essentials”. We need to pay our staff sufficient money to enable them to purchase food, shelter, clothing, education for their kids, some leisure, and the other things that enable them to feel that they are doing at least as well as their community of peers. Once these needs are satisfied, others become more important. Pay the going rate (or just a little more) for work of a good quality from staff, and know that more money won’t necessarily buy more work or better quality.
- Secondly, with our essentials met, we next seek “security”. It’s fine to be paid well, but we can’t take out a 20-year mortgage or even a 3-year car loan if there is a risk we won’t have a job tomorrow. Let your staff know that the business is solid, and that the future looks bright. If there are tough times ahead, let staff know that you are aware of these, that you have plans in place to manage this (you might even ask for an extra effort from them to assist), and that you are totally committed to navigating their boat to a safe harbour.
- Beyond the essentials and security, we all tend to seek a sense of belonging and the love and acceptance of ourselves by others. These will not necessarily bind us if we feel undervalued (underpaid) or insecure, but there are many instances of people continuing in low paid and even insecure employment for the sake of remaining with long-term workmates. Anything that you do to create a positive and supporting esprit de corps for your staff, and to encourage them to see themselves as a vital part of “something great” will be repaid many times over in the form of a willingness to go the extra mile.
- Our thoughts next turn to recognition (praise, promotion, prestige). These are not things that would bind us if we felt undervalued (underpaid), insecure or alienated (excluded) but with these three lower needs met, a bit of recognition goes a long way to making us feel good about our work. Create systems from bringing to your notice, efforts that go above and beyond the call of duty, and use your creativity to find a host of ways in which to recognize and/or reward those efforts, and watch in wonder at the lengths to which your people will go to earn that recognition. (Hint: Give stronger emphasis to “self improvement” than to outright talent, and you will develop a team of winners, rather than finding yourself continually recognizing a few talented individuals!)
- The motivator that research says that only 4% of people attain. Maslow called it “Gemeinschaftsgefuhl” – but, if it’s alright with you, I’m happy enough to say “Self-actualisation” or “providing someone with the opportunity to do a job in which they have a high degree of competence and which they love, in such a way as that they can express themselves in and through it.”
Self-Actualisation – Creating the Circumstances
So, how would you go about motivating someone to the self-actualisation level with respect to a specific task?
Well, first we would have to assume three key factors were in place, namely that:
- We have provided the person with a crystal clear Vision for the enterprise as a whole so that they can ensure their output for the task at hand advances that.
- We have clearly conveyed the Values we hold dear in the business (so that they can navigate with confidence if they venture into territory where we have not laid down specific rules).
- We have selected someone with sufficient Competence to be able to do the task at hand.
With these three in place, we can move our team member towards self-actualisation by asking them a question such as: “How would you go about producing this result?”
Notice that we focused on the result (what we want as output), rather than on the activity (how it’s to be produced), because it’s the activity – the new or better or smarter way of achieving the result – that is likely to be the source of their greatest satisfaction, and of your greatest gain in terms of effectiveness and efficiency!
If you give this process a try, how will you know if it worked? How will you know if your team member is approaching or attaining self-actualisation in their role? You could look for the clues, which could include:
- Fire in the belly! Self-actualised people show obvious signs of relish!
- Midnight oil! Self-actualised people lose track of time, and are totally focused on the task (actually, there is a risk they can get derailed by focusing on the process – the activity, again – so a truly excellent manager would check with them periodically to measure results and provide feedback).
- Flow! When we are self-actualising, we tend to work smoothly and efficiently.
Key Question
How would you feel if your team were performing at or near their peak capability, at tasks in which they found deep satisfaction, and to which they brought to bear all of their energy and ingenuity? In other words, “What would it feel like to work with ‘The SA Dream Team’?”
Well, if you are a manager of people, and you are reading this, you have the chance to find out! Of course, you may need to do a little (or a lot of) research before you had a solid grasp of what you would have to believe, know and do to be able to build such a team – but I wonder what would happen if you set that as a goal, right now?
If you would like a bit of motivation in pursuing this possibility, I can offer it in the form of Maslow’s 1956 description of “self actualized individuals” (a totally seductive picture of what your staff could be like, given good management). If you would like that description as “a model of what could be”, please email and ask for “The Dream Team” article.
