Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Date:

Abraham Maslow is a renown and most influential psychologist in the field of public administration. In 1943, he wrote an article “A Theory of human motivation” which focused on a needs-based framework of human motivation. In this article he based upon his clinical experience with different type of people, rather than basing on the prior psychology theories that existed during those days. This concept encourages the modern executive managers and other leaders to find the motivation means for their employees and the workforce management. This concept is based on the fact that human beings are usually motivated by their unsatisfied needs, and there are certain factors that these humans want them to be satisfied before the higher needs are satisfied. He points out that certain needs such as love, survival, psychological, esteem and safety need to be satisfied before one acts in an unselfish manner. As long as the leaders are motivated to satisfy these needs, which Maslow calls “deficiency needs,” then the organization will most likely move towards self-actualization and growth. In this case, preventing gratification may make the employees act evilly, hence there it is healthier to satisfy their needs.
Under Maslow Human Needs triangle, self-actualization is the top most in the hierarchy. This is the quest that one has to reach his full potential within his career or a given duty. This need is never satisfied fully because everyone grows psychologically as time advances and in this particular period, there are new opportunities that always come up for one to continue growing.

Self-actualized public administrators are considered to be just, wise and trusted. They usually have peak occurrences and Maslow estimates that very few people reach the level of self-actualization. Esteem needs are the second within the Hierarchy of the Human Needs Triangle. This is estimated as the opinion that a public administrator on his or her self and how he or she is viewed by the peers. Within a given organization, esteem is considered to be ranging from the personality of an administrator to the work ethics of the administrators, and when all this is combined, it reflects the entire organization. A public administrator requires respect from his or her colleagues, and he or she seeks to take pride the work he or she does.
Social needs entail the ability of a leader to promote ingenuity and creativity of the staff members so as to help the organization to be successful and meet the required obligations and goals. In this case, a manager is required to strike a balance between creative freedom and structure so as to produce an environment that encourages unit cohesion. On the other hand, safety is a very important aspect in public administration. A public administrator should ensure that there is an environment that is conducive for productivity. As a leader, he or she should provide the employees with an assurance that they are secure at the work place and in their respective positions. Such need is always threatened when it comes to austerity periods and looming cuts, which may stifle the level of productivity. Physiological needs are also important in fostering efficiency of workers in an organization. A manager should ensure that the organization keeps functioning and ensure that the organization has the appropriate staff and financial resources to maintain the operations of the organization.