The Human Being is a mysterious creature. It wants something, needs something else and behaves in yet another way to try to fulfil something which may not even be its actual want or need! So, what am I talking about today? Motivation and how motivation training can help you fulfil the needs of your employees, customers and even yourself!
So, where do we begin? By taking a peak into the human mind. Here we go…
Human Needs
What is it that our employees want which if we give can make them work faster and better? Do I hear you say more salary? Yes, you are right. But there’s a lot more that they actually want than just a fatter package. In fact, many of you may have noticed that the thrill of a good package tends to lose its fizz pretty soon!
And what about your customers? What can you offer them to motivate them to buy more from you?
The answers are hidden in a popular motivation theory called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. So, let’s understand this theory and see how we can apply it to motivate our employees and customers.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow represents human needs in the form of a pyramid. Our basic needs form the base of the pyramid while our higher order needs form the tip of it. Let’s understand these needs in detail:
Physiological Needs
This includes the very basic needs of every being, not just the human being. Its food, water and sleep. I’m sure you know how difficult it is to focus on work with a hungry stomach, when you’re thirsty or are low on sleep!
Employee Implications:
Ensure your team members take their lunch on time and keep drinking water. While you may love their tendency to skip these for work, trust me, it will backfire in the long run!
Also ensure they go home on time and actually cut off from work in the evenings until they officially start work the next day. You see, just leaving office but being in constant touch through calls, emails and whatsapp doesn’t count as giving them rest!
Customer Implications:
When you meet your customers, offer them a quick bite and some water. You never know what kind of a schedule they have been running on and how far back they have actually replenished themselves with any of these two.
Also, allow them to catch their breath especially when they look hassled. Offer them a seat and make an effort to help them relax. They will love you for being so considerate and helping them do what they didn’t bother to do for themselves!
Safety Needs
This is another basic yet extremely important one. We all want to feel safe. And how can that happen? By having a roof over our head and clothes to cover ourselves with. Yes, that’s how basic it is! And why do we all love money so much? Because it can get us these two! So basically, money falls under the second most, well, basic category. And that’s also why we get over it so fast! I’ll explain its implications a little later.
Employee Implications:
Giving them a good package is definitely on the list. Try to do that to make them feel more secure. But also remember that this is not the only way to fulfil their safety needs. After all, you have budgetary constraints, and cannot keep giving everyone a hike year on year to fulfil their safety needs!
So, what else can you do? Provide them a safe working environment. Ensure that they reach home safely once they leave the office. Provide them insurance and health policies as a part of their package. Keep a first aid box in your office and if possible, have a doctor on call. Provide job security especially during difficult times.
Customer Implications:
If your product or service has something to do with safety, ensure you speak about it while explaining the features to your customer. For example, if you are selling a car, talk about the child lock mechanism, the airbags, etc. If you are offering services, give them the names of your trusted and looked up to past clients. Share names of companies that you have been working with for a long time. You may also want to include a clause in your proposals that tells your customers how they can easily terminate your services without losing too much money to make them feel secure!
Love and Belonging Needs
This one’s a complete no brainer! We all want to be a part of a group and feel like we belong to it, even if we behave contrary to it. In fact, its inbuilt in our very DNA and one of those things that has been passed on to us by our ancestors. Its no wonder that we are a part of various groups; friend circle, religious group, hobby group, mental health groups and even travel to office groups!
Employee Implications:
Allow formal and informal groups to develop at work where like-minded employees come together to share their joys and concerns. Not only does this help them unburden, but also helps them develop strong bonds that they cherish and would want to hold on to. Which can do quite a bit for attrition, if you know what I mean!
And you know how you can further foster this feeling of love and belongingness? By being a boss that cares about them and is friendly enough that they can open up to you. You know the age old saying ‘Employees leave their bosses not their Organisations!’ So, if you can become the boss that they would never want to leave; you’re sure to have an employee that will happily work with you for quite a long time.
Customer Implications:
The same applies to your customers. Show them that you genuinely care. Not just while you are trying to close a deal, but even after. That’s when they will feel like its genuine and not just an attempt to close the sale.
In fact, one of the best ways to make an individual feel cared for, is by listening to them. Encourage your customers to share their needs. Listen intently and ask them questions pertaining to them. Then tell them about the features, advantages and benefits of your product which fulfil their specific needs.
Self Esteem Needs
We all want to feel good about ourselves and often base our feelings on what others feel about us. In other words, we often give the power to others to control how we will feel about ourselves! It’s therefore extremely important that we make good use of this power and help those around us. We not only help them get over the ‘I’m not good enough syndrome’ that most of us suffer from, but also give them opportunities to feel good about themselves!
Employee Implications:
Keep giving your team members new and challenging work. Help them be successful and feel good about their achievements. Include them in decision making, wherever possible. Ask for their opinions, encourage them to take on more responsibility and guide them towards the desired results. Help them get independent and find solutions to their challenges. Recognise them and celebrate even the smallest of milestones.
Customer Implications:
Sometimes we land up judging our customers and feel like they may not have the potential to actually buy from us. This generates a feeling of indifference towards them, which more often than not, they can sense! And what does this do? It hits their self-esteem. And you may end up losing a customer who actually had the potential to complete your days target!
Therefore, ensure you treat every customer with respect, no matter what they look like and try to keep such judgements aside!
Self-Actualisation Needs
Last but not the least, is the need to realise your true potential. We all want to achieve something great and make use of the latent potential that lies within us. While for some, this may happen by being creative; others may want to increase their knowledge or solve a challenging problem.
Employee Implications:
Ensure your team members are on a learning track and not just occupied with routine work. Send them for technical and behavioural training programs that will help them not only sharpen their skills, but also learn new things every now and then.
Also give them the scope to experiment with what they learn, for which you need to be tolerant of the mistakes that they make. Accept the new ideas that they come up with. Encourage them to look deeper into them and attempt implementing them, if found worthy. Ask them to spend time in improving the systems and processes around them.
Customer Implications:
Since this need is about growth, you can make your customer aware of how buying your product or service is going to help them grow in life.
You can also let them be creative wherever possible. If your product or service can be customised, encourage them to get creative and customise it to their needs. I remember the kick I got from customising my new car; the upholstery, stereo, colour, interiors finishing, etc.!
Implications and more…
Now that we have a good understanding of human needs, it becomes easier for us to get aware of them and fulfil them. But there also certain things we need to take note of:
- If our lower needs are not fulfilled, we don’t tend to focus on higher needs. Which means that if you send your employee for a motivation training program when he is feeling insecure in his job, you’re not going to motivate him!
- Certain things can fulfil two or more needs at a time. For instance, if I ensure my women team members reach home safely, it fulfils their safety needs as well as their love and belonging need.
- If a lower need is fulfilled, it does not necessarily mean it is not important anymore. This is contrary to what Maslow felt, but is quite true if observed carefully. For example, if you give you team member a very creative task, it does not mean he will be willing to do it even if he is not being paid for it! You might find some people who do this temporarily, but most do get frustrated in the long run even if they believe likewise.
- Yet if you observe some people who have earned a lot of money in their career, you will realise money fails to motivate them further. If you give them a hike, it doesn’t motivate them to do better. Instead, they want tasks where they start something new and get to utilise their full potential. They are focused on the higher order needs as their lower order needs are already fulfilled.
In short, what I am trying to say is that each one of us is unique and have different combinations of the five needs existing within us. For some, a lower need when satisfied ceases to motivate us. For others, lower needs could be present along with the higher order needs. It’s for us to get aware of these and use these to create motivation in ourselves and others.
Always remember that our behaviours and actions are a result of these very needs. And while sometimes it’s easy to lay a finger on our needs, other times it can be rather convoluted. Remember the time you asked your parents for a toy when all you actually wanted was their love and attention?
Self-belief is what today’s youth is really lacking and hence they must overcome this because when you have no ability to believe in yourself then that’s what is actually going to pull you down and deviate you from your goals. Thank you so much for putting up this post.