Abraham Maslow’s 5-tier Theory of Motivation, posits the view that a

worker has a hierarchy of needs that a public administrator must carefully

study, assess and fulfill, with the end-in-view of creating and maintaining an
efficient and therefore productive worker.

Such theory, coming as it did from an experimental behaviorist who started

his experiments on monkeys, and as published critiques have shown,
posed serious apprehensions on the quality of his studies. Some observers
have even suggested that Maslow is better understood in an inferential-
analytical method rather than qualitative.

Thus, an inference-analysis of Maslow’s theory suggests that public

organizations exist to serve co-existent human needs, and that this inter-
dependence in turn, if it is a good fit, produces mutual benefits between the
worker and the organization, or otherwise, mutual detriment.

Maslow’s theory is distinguished from the classical view from the

perspectives of emphasis, nature and focus. Maslow’s was the fulfillment of
basic needs, belongingness and human emotions, while the latter’s was
rigid, mechanistic and highly impersonal.

The interplay of human behavior in complex settings in the workplace

produce both pros and cons to the Maslowian theory. More recent studies
have shown that the primary motivational aspect for employees is not
financial, but the pride in his work and his output. Such studies may not be
viable today however, due to dire bread-and-butter issues, which
necessitate the inverse proportions or a re-structuring of Maslow’s 5 tiers.
But the larger picture gives us the backbone learning from Maslow that a
public administrator must carefully tread on human behavior in order to
keep the worker motivated and engaged.