Maslow in 2021
Years ago, I taught classes for HR professionals who were preparing to take their certification exams offered by the HR Certification Institute. The material covered a great deal of management theory—such as motivation theory—often to the dismay of some of the students.
My challenge as an instructor was to provide practical examples of how these theories applied to the workplace, and convincing students that principles of human behavior unlocked the door to motivating employees in areas such as learning and goal attainment.
Let’s consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Lower-level needs must be satisfied for a higher-level need to emerge and serve as a motivator. At the base of the pyramid, are basic physical needs which translate to base salary and a paycheck in the workplace. Once physical needs are satisfied, safety and security—working conditions, employment security and benefits on the job—must be addressed.
Some of this came together for me recently as I read an article by management professor and fellow in the of the National Academy of Human Resources, Peter Cappelli. Cappelli’s article discussed the reality of being on the waning side of the pandemic with the economy beginning to open and tales about labor shortages.
According to Cappelli, there is no labor shortage, and he explains why using supporting facts and figures. (Read more at: https://hrexecutive.com/cappelli-no-hr-we-dont-have-a-labor-shortage-crisis/)
He observes that after the 2001 recession, the Great Recession, and now, employers try to backfill their earlier layoffs then struggle to hire the people with the skills and experience they want fast enough at the wages they want to pay.
We are living in a world today where Maslow’s motivation theory is playing out before our eyes. With layoffs and uncertainty about schedules and pay, workers collective concerns about their basic needs are real. If there is uncertainty at the base, is it possible to attract and retain, much less motivate employees?
If those basic needs are met—pay that allows them to support themselves and their families—then workers concerns turn to safety and working conditions.
What about continued exposure to COVID-19 and variants?
Are coworkers and customers vaccinated?
Will social distancing and masks be required to mitigate risk?
Will precautions, such as sanitizing stations, be implemented?
He makes the case in his article that workforce planning is critical and poses the questions:
If you laid off your skilled and competent workforce during the pandemic, what did you think was going to happen when the shutdown was lifted?
Where were you going to get a replacement workforce that meets all those criteria and do it quickly at the same time everyone else wants to do the same thing?
Cappelli points out that it would have cost very little, if anything, to keep those workers engaged while on furlough. I know a small business owner who did just that—stayed in touch with each of his workers during a period of mandated closure. When it was time to reopen, they all returned.
Cornelia Gamlem