In Maslow’s theory in human resources we described the pyramid devised by the American psychologist and found that the sum of survival and development is the key to human motivation. Let’s now turn that formula into the mutual benefit that company and candidate can draw from the right combination of human needs, with the best results for both.
From the candidate’s point of view, Maslow is about making the most of their drive to develop and reaching their future career goals. For the company, the pyramid speaks to a potential candidate’s working conditions and where they want to go in terms of their motivation for survival and development, and it becomes what sets one candidate apart from another in an interview.
Applying the pyramid to the candidate
A person is just starting out on their personal and professional future. Only their physiological needs are covered, and all their personal and professional development depends on moving forward. Then comes the moment when the candidate can start to meet their safety needs: they look for a job so they can get a home and health insurance, which will shape their day-to-day progress in life.
The job will give them that security and cover part of their needs. That is when they will start to pursue other activities, goals and objectives that will take their career to its peak. They will look for esteem among their colleagues and build up their social networks and personal motivations with them.
The job will give them recognition and encouragement. It will satisfy their need for esteem and their sense of belonging in the working world. These elements will let them reach new goals and achieve professional development. They are steps, the building blocks of their career, and they consolidate their need for survival.
Applying the pyramid to the company
On the one hand, the company satisfies the candidate’s survival needs by giving them a job with which they can start to build their professional and personal development, once their physiological and safety needs are covered.
But the company must go further and, during the selection process, find out about the rest of the levels of the pyramid. It will learn how much esteem the candidate needs, their interest in recognition, their ability to relate to others and their career development goals.
It will then analyse the candidate and judge whether they fit the role on offer. If a candidate has low needs for esteem and self-actualization, they may not be the best option for a position with high potential for professional growth. This candidate does not have many needs to satisfy and will not be ambitious: a poor fit for roles built around growth and motivation.
This candidate will do well in positions where professional development is flat, with similar working days one after another. People whose self-actualization needs are basic are perfect candidates for production tasks — between us, for endless photocopies — and with no further complication, the simplicity of the work will be enough to satisfy their need for development.
Here, then, is the mutually beneficial combination for both parties. Once the job and its career path are defined, the candidate should bring the same or similar needs for personal development. The closer the growth each side is looking for, the better the match between candidate and position.
Featured image: Amtec Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
