Humanistic Workplace Paper
ABSTRACT
In today's workplace, Humanism would concentrate upon the development of the employee's self-concept. If the employee feels good about him or herself then that is a positive start. Feeling good about oneself would involve an understanding of ones' strengths and weaknesses, and a belief in one's ability to improve. Learning is not an end in itself; it is the means to progress towards the pinnacle of self-development, which Maslow terms 'Self-actualization'. For Example, a child learns because he or she is inwardly driven, and derives his or her reward from the sense of achievement that having learned something affords. This would differ from the behaviorist view that would expect extrinsic rewards to be more effective. Extrinsic rewards are rewards from the outside world, e.g. praise, money, gold stars, etc. Intrinsic rewards are rewards from within oneself, rather like a satisfaction of a need. This accords with the humanistic approach, where education is really about creating a need within the child, or instilling within the child self-motivation. Behaviorism is about rewards from others. Humanism is about rewarding yourself!
HUMANISTIC WORKPLACE
Much of a humanist supervisor's effort would be put into developing an employee's self-esteem. It would be important for employees to feel good about themselves (high self-esteem), and to feel that they can set and achieve appropriate goals (high self-efficacy). This form of supervision is known as employee-centered, and is typified by the employee taking responsibility for their productivity and owning their learning. The behaviorists might advocate positive reinforcement such as praise, and punishment in the form of nega...
... middle of paper ...
... In conclusion, observing Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be a useful way for an organization to help their employees. Providing their personnel with an appropriate atmosphere will lead to the employee's development along the path towards self-actualization. Constructing this paper has given me a number of ideas that will be helpful when I start my own business, as I now plan to adopt a humanistic approach to management. The construction firm I was a part of gave me an opportunity to do become self-actualized. A strong home life is also necessary to reach the final plateau, but the organization can lead the charge.
REFERENCE LIST
Frunizi, George L., and Patrick E. Savini. Supervision: The Art of Managment. Prentice Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1997
Hodgetts, Richard M., and Fred Luthans. International Management. Irwin Mc-Graw Hill, Boston, MA, 2000.
Simons, Janet A., Donald B. Irwin, and Beverly A. Drinnin. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Psychology: the Search for Understanding. St. Paul: West Pub., 1987. Print.
The humanistic theory ties into the humanistic perspective. This was first thought of my Abraham Maslow. Unlike the behaviorists, humanistic psychologists believe that humans are not solely the product of their environment. Rather humanistic psychologists study human meanings, understandings, and experiences involved in growing, teaching, and learning. They emphasize characteristics that are shared by all human beings such as love, grief, caring, and self-worth. Humanistic psychologists study how people are influenced by their self-perceptions and the personal meanings attached to their experiences. Humanistic psychologists are not primarily concerned with instinctual drives, responses to external stimuli, or past experiences. Rather, they consider conscious choices, responses to internal needs, and current circumstances to be important in shaping human
The credible version of hierarchy of needs of Maslow (1943, 1954), have five motivational levels that are arranged in a pyramid with depicted levels. The stages are divided in basic needs which include, psychological, love, safety, and esteem. These needs are also primary of deficiency needs. The other needs are growth needs which incorporate self-actualization needs. When basic needs are not met, they are said to motivate people. The strength of the desire of such needs depends with the time in which they are denied. For example, the more a person lacks food, the hungrier that person becomes. Basic needs must be satisfied before a person proceeds to satisfy other needs in the higher levels. When basic needs are satisfied reasonably, the person can now strive at achieving the self-actualization level, which is the highest level.
The Humanistic approach is a psychological perspective which studies the whole person and each individual’s uniqueness (McLeod, 2007). Humanistic psychology began in the 1940s and 1950s by a group of prominent psychologists such as Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Charlotte Buhler, who felt that behaviorism and psychoanalysis had many limitations and that a person’s behavior is connected to his inner feelings and self-image (Frye, 2015). They believed in the human capacity for choice and growth and that individuals have free will and make conscious choices (Frye, 2015). The humanistic approach emphasizes that behavior is influenced by a person’s environment and that social interactions greatly influence the development of a person (Frye, 2015).
Psychologist Abraham Maslow created the hierarchy of needs, outlining and suggesting what a person need to reach self-actualization and reveal the true potential of themselves. In the model, Maslow propose that a person has to meet basic needs in order to reach the true potential of themselves. Biological/physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging need, esteem needs according to Maslow is the fundamental frame for reaching the peak of self. The last need to be met on the scale
Motivation is defined as individual internal process that energizes, directs and sustains behavior. Motivation depends on how much the person wants something and how likely they think they will get it. Managers struggle to improve motivation in the workplace, but with the right tools they can become successful. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a pyramid of personal satisfaction that need to be met so a person can reach their full potential and be happy. Each level of the pyramid is stratified from the bottom up. A person cannot move up the pyramid until the bottom needs are met. Maslow’s hierarchy is usually a personal tool used to assess how an individual is doing, but businesses adapted this tool to use in the workplace and improve morale.
Humanistic Theory is based on the ability for individuals to be able to separately diverse with our own prospective on life. Maslow’s theory speaks to the potential and to positive outcome of human motivation and believes that every individual can and will strives to be more.
The foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy or pyramid is basic physiological, then safety and security, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization (Maslow, 1970). Maslow observed the work environment and determined employees are primarily concerned with the culture and structure of the work place meeting their needs (Bobic & Davis, 2003, p. 242). McGregor applied these needs to the work environment of the mid to late 1950’s (Bobic & Davis, 2003, p. 240). The result was a new era of management theory and practice which tapped the creative potential of the workforce (Bobic and Davis, 2003, p. 241).
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory of basic human needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His theory suggests that embedded in the very nature of each human being are certain needs that must be attained in order for a person to be whole physically, psychologically, and emotionally. First, there are phys...
The humanistic perspective on personality deals exclusively with human behavior. Humanistic psychologists believe that human nature includes a natural drive towards personal growth, that humans have the freedom to choose what they do regardless of environmental factors, and humans are mostly conscious beings and are not controlled by unconscious needs and conflicts. They also believe that a person's subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. Two of the humanistic theorists that have made an impact of humanism are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
If motivation is driven by the existence of unsatisfied needs, then it is worthwhile for a manager to understand which needs are the more important for individual employees. In this regard, Abraham Maslow developed a model in which basic, when a need is mostly satisfied it no longer motivates and the next higher need takes its place.
Throughout life, these five needs can relate to a greater understanding of a job seeker’s needs. We work towards acquiring these elements so that we can live a comfortable life and one of the activities that play a large role in our lives is work. Similarly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be directly translated into our needs within our careers.
The first need theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. Grensing-Pophal (2002) stated that Maslow developed five levels that describe the needs of a person. The first level is physiological comforts. These are the basic survival needs of a person, such as food, water and shelter. The second level is safety needs. Ramlall (2004) further described these safety needs in three areas: economic (such as wages and benefits), psychological (such as work stability), and physical (such as physical work environment and breaks). The third level is social fulfillment needs (Grensing-Pophal 2002). These needs deal with friendship and interacting with other people. The fourth level is satisfaction of the ego. These needs focus on being respected, self-esteem, and recognition. The final le...
Furthermore, there are three theories which explain the different factors in how employees are motivated based on their needs. The first theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, was proved by Abraham Maslow in the years of 1943 and 1954 (McLeod, 2013). Maslow believed that society developed their motivations depending on their needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in which five motivational needs( self-actualization,esteem, belongingness and love, safety, and psychological) are demonstrated in a hierarchy pyramid. The five motivational needs are divided into three categories(basic, psychological, and
Humanistic Leadership is basically the style of utilization of standards and others conscious propensities in organization leadership. These are the standards that concentrate on the self-grooming with development of a person through the creation of different morals, which assist to make a favorable workplace for employees. That also highlights the duties, which the employees are required to deliver in a reasonable way in the work area. Humanism’s main objective is to concentrate fundamentally on profound quality and the foundation of a point of reference to deliver the quality work producing an intense upgrading in the amount and nature of work done that is undertaken in work place (Hutchison, Lyons & de Rodriguez, 2014).