Motivation and Discipline

Last week, I reviewed Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, to refresh my memory and to see how I could apply it to Organizational Behavior. I had never thought of this theory as it applies to organizations, but I learned that it is extremely relevant to a workplace setting.

I read one article that explained the correlation between the Hierarchy and how it works within an organization, and its shortcomings within an organization as well. This article states that, of course, motivation is the reason or reasons why people act a particular way and what make us want to participate in making the organization run as efficiently as possible. However, motivation can only go so far and “lack of motivation” can be used as an excuse to do the work poorly or to avoid fulfilling their roll at all. This argument, when I first read it, came off as far-fetched and abstract, but after doing further probing of the idea, it began to make more and more sense. People only do things if they have a motivator. For instance, most people only go to work at boring jobs if they get a paycheck at the end of the week, or to get the bonus at the end of the fiscal year, or to help support their families. But what if we took away those incentives? A CEO, for example, who has reached the highest position in the company and who is financially stable with incredible job security does not have to be concerned with the bonuses and the money. What is the motivator for them to get their work done, and to do it well?

This is when a second idea comes into play: the idea of discipline and self-discipline in the workplace. Motivation can only go so far to get things done in an organization. And if the CEO or other management is not motivated to do well, why should the workers on the floor be motivated to do well? Maslow’s Hierarchy says that going through the process of self-actualization, or the top level of the needs pyramid, is the only way to learn self-discipline. This in turn means that motivation to do good work must come from within, and only if all other lower level needs are met.

I believe that in order for any of these theories to work successfully within an organization, people have to enjoy what they are doing at work and enjoy the setting in which they work. Only then, when people are positive about and confident in the work they are doing, will money no longer be the primary motivator. When the CEO and others in management are happy to work at the organization, do their best to improve it in any way they can, and make it known to the employees that they care about what they need and what they have to say, that is when the organization has risen to the highest level of the Hierarchy.