Which Needs Run Your Work Life?

Human needs are an important part of human nature. Values, beliefs, and customs vary internationally, but all people have similar needs.

If you’re leading a group, divisional team or company, understanding these needs allows you to motivate people more powerfully in the workspace. Understanding needs gives you greater perception about your interaction with people around you, or in relationships. This can mean the difference between a project's success or failure, or a division that works well together rather than being torn in different directions because the members remain unaware of what is driving or influencing their co-workers.

Abraham Maslow’s views are as relevant today as when he put them forward. Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs states that the basic human needs are arranged in a hierarchical order. He based his theory on healthy, creative people who used all of their talents, potential, and capabilities. Presumably this is you, or you want it to be, you've got ideas for the next Google or Facebook?

There are two primary sets of human needs: basic and meta needs. Basic needs are physiological, such as food, water, and sleep; and psychological – eg. affection, security, self esteem. These basic needs are also referred to as deficiency needs because that person works hard at overcoming the deficiency until they are met.

The higher needs are called meta needs or growth needs –justice, goodness, beauty, order, unity, etc. Basic needs take priority over these growth needs. People who lack food or water can’t concentrate much on justice or beauty. Let alone business or career wins or creativity.

These needs are listed below in descending order. The needs on the bottom must be met before the more advanced needs can be met. The top four can be pursued in random sequence depending on a person's wants or situation, once all the lower needs are met.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

8. Self-transcendence - a transegoic * level that emphasizes visionary intuition, altruism, and unity consciousness.

7. Self-actualization know exactly who you are, where you are going, and what you want to accomplish. A state of well-being.

6. Aesthetic - at peace, more curious about inner workings of all.

5. Cognitive - learning for learning alone, contribute knowledge.

4. Esteem - feeling of moving up in world, recognition, few doubts about self.

3. Belongingness and love - belong to a group, close friends to confine with.

2. Safety - feel free from immediate danger.

1. Physiological - food, water, shelter, sex.

* Transegoic - a higher spiritual state of development. trans relates to transcendence, ego equates with the personality. In Maslow's model, the ultimate goal of life is self-actualization - almost never fully attained, but to always strive towards. This recognizes the human need for ethics, creativity, compassion and spirituality, without which we are simply animals or machines.

Maslow believes that people want and are always trying to meet goals. Because the lower level needs are more pressing, if not satisfied, they dominate unsatisfied higher needs and behaviours and must be satisfied before you can move on up the hierarchy.

Knowing where a person is located on this hierachy scale aids in defining what will motivate them effectively. Virtually no-one remains stuck at one particular level for an long period. We continually seek to move on up, even while simultaneously forces outside our control work to push us down.

In the workplace, in motivating and leading others, our objective is assisting people to achieve the skills and experience that will propel them up to higher levels, permanently. People who have covered off on their basic needs are much better at their work – they can focus clearly on visualising and getting to success, instead of being distracted about how to simply make ends meet.

Once you can recognise and deal with what’s pulling you off track, it becomes infinitely easier to fast-track to where you truly want to be, at work, at home, wherever your focus is. And to get there much more quickly and easily, with less stress and effort.