Outline classical theories of motivation and illustrate their Essay

Outline classical theories of motivation and illustrate their application in different business situations. Discuss their useful - Essay Example The first theory that this paper deals with is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. To reiterate, this theory is considered to be one of the most important available motivational theories and is used by many professionals in various institutions. It has a broad—and even, perhaps, a universal—appeal. It is actually a very common-sense theory in that â€Å"it suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other needs† (Cherry, K.). The depiction of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs enables easy understanding of his theory. The base of the diagram, which contains the basic needs, is broad and, as with all pyramids, comes to a point at the top. This should indicate that in relation to other levels of the pyramids, humans have more basic needs than other needs. The most basic needs are the physiological needs for water, food, warmth, air, and sleep. It can be readily seen that if an employee does not have these satisfied, that (s)he is n ot going to be motivated—and, in fact, not able—to be productive. ... The second of the five levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are those of safety and security, which although necessary for survival are not as crucial as those of the first level. Examples of second-level security needs are shelter from the environment, safe neighbourhoods, steady employment and health insurance (ibid.). There is grass roots and political movement afoot in some areas for employers to pay their employees a living wage, the amount differing somewhat depending upon the cost of living in any given area. Minimum wages in some areas are barely sufficient to pay rent and bus fare to work. The food banks help. Businesses would be wise to consider what loyalty and quality production can be expected from employees in such situations, especially if they have a toothache but have no money nor dental insurance to have a dentist take care of the problem. Many a business manager has been heard to lament that it is impossible to find good employees today. If such managers, g ave up their lifestyle for a couple of months and tried living on the wages paid to their minimum or close-to-minimum-wage paid employees, they would, undoubtedly, have a rude awakening. Even if the employees’ physiological and security needs are met, if their social needs—the third level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—are, for whatever reasons, barely being met, these employees are hurting inside and, consequently, in most cases are not sufficiently motivated nor capable of giving their all to their work. The needs in level three are social needs. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION 3 According to Maslow’s theory, social needs are met through friendships; romantic