UNIVERSITY OF MINDANAO

PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
Matina, Davao City

An Insight Paper on Employee Motivation and Satisfaction

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements in MBA 200
Human Resource Management

Submitted to:
Prof. Joel Tan

Prepared by:
Emmanuel Panuelos

October 2019
Background of the Study

Motivation is the reason that drives all of our actions. Every individual believed
that if they act on certain way or perform certain tasks, they will be rewarded or
recognized for doing well or doing a good job. Employers and HR Department are
always thinking of new ways on how to drive performance of each employee in a
maximum level. The factor to reach the highest possible results lies in identifying early
what components drive each individual in a workforce. It is knowing what the
employees of the company really need to perform better results and drive growth in
the organization.

It’s crucial that apart from considering that the final outcome is worthwhile,
employees also believe that they are capable of performing the task that’s expected of
them. If the targets or goals seem unachievable from their perspective, it is unlikely
they’ll feel motivated which in return will lead to lower performance. This is why, being
able to identify the main factors that drive an employee is a first and most important
step on the way to increasing performance.

Reaction/Insight

One of the topics discussed in class is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. According
to Wikipedia, “Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by
Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological
Review. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of
humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human
developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth
in humans. He then decided to create a classification system which reflected the
universal needs of society as its base and then proceeding to more acquired
emotions. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is used to study how humans intrinsically
partake in behavioral motivation. Maslow used the terms "physiological", "safety",
"belonging and love", "social needs" or "esteem", and "self-actualization" to describe
the pattern through which human motivations generally move. This means that in
order for motivation to occur at the next level, each level must be satisfied within the
individual themselves. Furthermore, this theory is a key foundation in understanding
how drive and motivation are correlated when discussing human behavior. Each of
these individual levels contains a certain amount of internal sensation that must be
 met in order for an individual to complete their hierarchy. The goal in Maslow's theory
is to attain the fifth level or stage: self-actualization”.

1. Physiological Needs

Abraham Maslow realized that people need to deal with the survival needs before
they move on to any other level of needs. If they do not have the necessary food,
clothing, water, shelter — or comparable elements to survive — they are not likely to
be concerned about learning new skills to qualify them for future jobs.

In our company, simple things like free coffee, clean water (such as that from
the watercooler) and daily allocation of 2 “pandesals” per employee for breakfast goes
a long way in meeting our employees’ basic physiological needs. I definitely agree that
physiological needs are considered the most important of the needs and must be met
before other needs because all other needs depend on the physiological needs being
met.

2. Safety Needs

To address this level of the hierarchy, you must consider physical as well as
psychological safety and security. Every company should ensure that the environment
contains no safety hazards.

Our company addresses this one by putting signages, markings and safety
precautions reminding our employee of the behavior while inside the company
premises. We also conduct Fire drill, Earthquake drills and assigned safety officer per
department and medical personnel in our clinic, helping them feel safer in their position
with the company create a safe free environment while inside the company.

3. Social Needs

This level of Maslow’s theory deals with love, acceptance, friendship, and
companionship. many people have to socialize and feel part of a group by creating a
work environment that harbors opportunities for participation and interaction with
others.
 Our company address this need through a series of calendar of activities. Like
Christmas party, Valentines party, Summer outing, Anniversary of the company,
Family day activity, Halloween party, and Karaoke party which is held every first Friday
of the month for all birthdays celebrant for the month this allow the team to interact and
build camaraderie.

4. Esteem Needs

At this point of Maslow’s hierarchy, the focus shifts to the personal ego; self-
respect, achievement and receiving recognition for efforts given. Employees want to
be respected and appreciated by their coworkers and their bosses.

In our company we address this need by giving incentive like cash incentives
and we also give additional incentive like 5 kilos of rice for those employees who
exceed their performance for the month. We recognize their accomplishments, by
giving out certificate, tokens and putting their name and pictures on the company’s
recognition board for being the best employee of the month. A Formal employee
awards is also given on a yearly basis during our Christmas party.

5. Self-Actualization

Self-Actualization is the highest form of the triangle an examples of famous

self-actualized individuals include Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Mother
Teresa.
The fulfillment of this need gives a high degree of satisfaction to the individual in work
and life. This will further improve a person’s performance in an organization. A self-
actualized person has fulfilled all his potential. This represents a person’s motivation
to transform perception of self into reality.

Recommendation

The key to successfully applying Maslow’s theory in the workplace is to

remember that what motivates one employee does not necessarily motivate another,
but motivation is key to retaining employees and achieving business goals. Motivation
is a continuous process - it changes over time. It’s the Employer’s and Human
Resource responsibility to identify and react to these changes. Having a full
understanding of what employees want to achieve as individuals, and showing them
how to do it, is the main principle that if followed will help to build a strong, engaged
and high performing team. Employer should identify where their employees hope to go
as it relates to the level of achievement in the company and help them get there.
Harmony and understanding, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of
prejudice, acceptance of facts. In conclusion, Maslow’s Theory of Motivation charts the
path toward achieving the highest human potential. It passes through five areas,
beginning with level 5 – Physiological and progressing to peak at level 1 – Self
Actualization. Each level satisfies a fundamental basic human requirement.

Although I can say that the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not
always follow the same standard progression for example, Maslow notes ‘that for some
individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. For
others, the need for creative fulfillment may supersede even the most basic needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represents part of an important shift in psychology. Rather
than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow’s humanistic
psychology was focused on the development of healthy individual’.

References

1. Hierarchy of Needs: A Theory of Human Motivation: Maslow’s classic publication

— perhaps essential reading for psychology students, educators and
professionals
2. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological review,50(4),
370.
3. Maslow, A. H., Frager, R., & Cox, R. (1970). Motivation and personality (Vol. 2,
pp. 1887-1904). J. Fadiman, & C. McReynolds (Eds.). New York: Harper & Row.
4. Maslow, A. H. (2013). Toward a psychology of being. Start Publishing LLC.