Maslow's hierarchy of needs

In one paragraph

Abraham Maslow argued that human needs stack: until the basic ones are satisfied, the higher ones do not motivate you.

The five levels, bottom up: physiological (pay enough to eat and keep warm), safety (job security, safe conditions, a contract), social (belonging, being part of a team), esteem (recognition, status, responsibility) and self-actualisation (doing work that fulfils you).

The claim is that a level only motivates once the ones beneath it are largely met. Offering someone a fascinating project matters little if they are worried about making rent or losing the job.

What it means for managing people

It explains why pay rises stop motivating. Once pay comfortably covers the lower levels, more of it does relatively little, and the levers that still work are recognition, responsibility and interesting work — which happen to be free.

It also explains the reverse. A business that has just made redundancies has knocked everyone down to the safety level, and no amount of team-building will land until people feel secure again.

How to actually use it

• Work out which level your people are actually on. In a business that has just had a scare, the answer is safety, and the right response is honest information rather than perks.
• Use the free levers deliberately: name who did the work, give real responsibility, and say thank you specifically rather than generally.

Where it breaks down

• The evidence for a strict hierarchy is weak. People plainly pursue esteem and meaning while insecure, and the ordering varies between individuals and cultures.
• It was not built from workplace research and was applied to management later by other people.

If you are being examined on it

Name the level, say what the business could do at that level, and say why it fits this workforce. Listing five levels with no application is a low-mark answer.

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