Abraham Maslow has mentioned self-actualization in his Need Pyramid model. Maslow estimated that only two percent of people would reach the state of self-actualization. He was specifically interested in the characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as individuals. Self-actualization is enlightenment within. When people get liberated of desires and are at peace with self and surrounding it’s a state of enlightenment.

An enlightened person is not self-centred, because he blends or merges with the universal energy. He doesn’t feel the need to show-off his self-identity because he loses the sense of a separate self. Universal Energy is the life force that exists everywhere. It is present in the entire universe – in plants, sun, moon, stars, planets, earth, mountains, river, ocean, fire, air it literally exists in all atoms and molecules. Enlightened humans spirt gets elevated. They get unified with the universal energy. An enlightened person is emotionally stable because he no longer has an ego and does not require validation for his existence. He becomes equanimous; he does not get hurt because there is no ego to hurt. He does not get angry because he becomes compassionate toward others.

The enlightened person is humble. He does not need to prove anything to others, including himself. He becomes kind and gentle; he starts accepting reality.

I am a follower of Aurobindo Ghose who was a freedom fighter and lived an extraordinary life. He was born in Calcultta in 1872 and got educated in England. He became part of the Indian independence movement and was eventually arrested in 1908. During his year in prison Aurobindo had a spiritual experience. Swami Vivekananda visited him for two weeks and taught him about higher consciousness. After getting freed from prison, Aurobindo moved to Pondicherry, India to avoid the oppression of the British. There he began his spiritual writings in 1914. He attracted spiritual followers and in 1926 the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed. The goal of the ashram was to evolve a new spiritual practice called Inner Yoga. The ashram was run by Mirra Alfassa known as ‘The Mother’ who Aurobindo considered his spiritual equal. She was a seeker from France who, guided by some inner conviction, had arrived at Pondicherry, then a French colony, to meet Sri Aurobindo. Mirra even as child used to think of humanity.

The enlightened person is enduring and has incredible understanding of surrounding. But there is no secret formula to attaining enlightenment. There are no steps to teach process of enlightenment. It doesn’t happen with a bang. It happens quietly. It’s like a bud blooming into a flower…..quietly.

Saint Tukaram of Maharashtra spent much of his time in contemplating and studying the holy scriptures of Saint Dnyaneswar, Namdev and Eknath, all famous saints of Maharashtra. He received spiritual guidance in his dreams from a guru named Raghava Chaitanya. He also was spiritually guided in a dream by Saint Namdev, and Lord Vitthal himself. Tukaram was instructed by Gurus and Lord Vitthal that it was his mission to compose abhangas (religious poems) and spread Bhakti Movement among the masses. Saint Tukaram was a married man.

The enlightened person works with open mind. He is able to see the world with a clarity, without attachments. He does not carry any preconceived ideas about people, places, and things. The enlightened person has great inner strength. There are many enlightened people around us, we are unaware of their powers. When you feel content, you are enlightened. 

I am ending my article with a latest example. Prakash Shah who served Reliance Industries in various positions, decided to follow the Jain ritual of renunciation. In 2021, Prakash and his wife Naina Shah took ‘diksha’ on the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti.

After graduating in Chemical Engineering more than 40 years ago, Prakash post-graduated from IIT Bombay. He had a long career at Reliance and before retiring he got promoted as a vice president. Prakash was playing a key role in Reliance’s Jamnagar petcoke gasification project before his retirement. Earlier, he had also managed petcoke marketing for the company. After taking diksha, Jain monks give up all worldly pleasures. They walk barefoot and eat only what they have received in alms. Enlightenment does not come with a bang, it does not require marketing or promotion, it does not require a teacher/Guru, it cannot be ‘learnt’ it happens automatically. 

Maslow felt, a person is always ‘becoming’ and never remains static. The fluctuations in life do not allow a person to remain stagnant. As each person is unique the motivation for self-actualization leads people in different directions. While for some people self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others it comes through achieving great profit in business, for some it comes through sports, so on and forth. It is worth noting that self-actualization is a continual process of ‘becoming’ rather than a perfect state which we often see in movies ‘happy ever after.’ Success involves many ups and downs; it means going from failure to failure – yet not giving up.

The self-actualizers have few characteristics which allow them to stand out such as they are efficient, they accept other for what they are, they are humorous, they look at life objectively, and they are highly creative people. Such people are childlike inquisitive, have great grasping power and great amount of concentration, they don’t dither from trying out new things, they listen to their heart, avoid preteens of any sort, and take responsibility for failures. Although different people achieve
self-actualization in different ways (each one has his own unique way), they tend to share certain characteristics.  Maslow said that there are no perfect human beings. Please note – Maslow did not equate self-actualization with perfection. Self-actualization merely involves achieving one’s potential to fullest.

In Human Resource Management employee motivation is very important because it enhances the level of commitment, energy and innovation. The job of HR is strategic in nature because it addresses the issues related to people. Human mind is most complex and working with minds continually is a tedious and time-consuming process. HR needs to measure employee wellbeing by measuring their motivation.

Here below are some of the famous motivation theories:

Abraham Maslow’s need hierarchy

Abraham Harold Maslow was an American psychologist. He developed a model of hierarchy of needs to explain human motivation. His theory proposed that people have a number of basic needs that must be met before people move up the hierarchy to pursue more social, emotional, and self-actualizing needs. The pyramid of needs is explained as below:

Physiological Needs

The theory generally is portrayed as a fairly rigid hierarchy in shape of pyramid. The physiological needs are at base which include food, water, clothing, sleep, shelter and reproduction. These are the basic necessities for any individual’s survival.

Safety Needs

After physiological needs come Safety Needs. These include protection from bad elements in society, security, law and order, stability, strength and freedom from fear. Once a person’s basic needs are satisfied, he requires safety and security as want for order and predictability sets in.

Social Needs

These include friendship, family, friend’s circle, memberships of various groups and clubs, work group, educational qualifications, salary, community belonging etc, in short, each person seeks affiliation in society. 

Esteem needs

This category includes achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, and respect from others.

Self-Actualization needs

This is at the peak of need pyramid. This includes realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

Maslow felt that there was a clear distinction between gaining love and gaining respect or esteem. He felt that people get respected for their exceptionality and mastery. As individuals, we naturally wish to excel or be exceptional, to be noticed for our unique talents and capabilities. Each one has some measure of self-esteem and confidence; at some point in time, we try to raise the bar of our performance, and once we achieve mastery, we automatically gain the psychological freedom to be creative and grow further. The growth gives us wisdom and the wisdom make us generous to others for sharing our mastery.

Maslow noted that the order in which these needs are fulfilled need not always follow this standard of succession. For example, for some individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for safety.  Another fact is age, race, cast, creed, gender, height, weight, money, status has got nothing to do with the order of achieving each need.

Many other motivation theories are born out of Maslow’s Need Pyramid Theory.

Alderfer’s ERG theory

Clayton Paul Alderfer was an American psychologist and HR consultant known for additionally developing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Alderfer’s ERG theory of 1969 condenses Maslow’s five human needs into three categories: Existence, Relatedness and Growth. All three include material and physiological desires. 

Existence needs

These include need for basic material necessities. In short, it includes an individual’s physiological and physical safety needs. Housing, clothing, food, health are the needs for basic existence.  Maslow’s physiological and safety needs fall under this category.

Relatedness needs

These include the individual’ ambition to maintain significant interpersonal relationships. We all feel the need of belonging to individuals and groups in our personal and professional lives. We all try to maintain relationships with significant others like family, friends, co-workers and employers. We like to cherish social esteem. This means to be recognized and feel secure as part of a club, social organization, group and our extended family. Getting public fame and recognition nourishes our self-worth.  Maslow’s social needs and esteem needs fall under this class of need.

Growth needs

These include need for self-development. Growth need refers to the necessity for personal growth and self-discovery which a person continues throughout his life. For Maslow, a person is always ‘becoming’ ‘developing.’ A person never remains static. At every stage of life person grows mentally and physically.  The realization or fulfilment of one’s talents and potentials and fulfilment of those is called self-actualization.

McClelland’s achievement motivation theory

David McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory helps to identify motivating drivers of people. This helps to praise them and give feedback effectively. McClelland states that every person has one of the three main driving motivators: the needs for achievement, the need for affiliation and the need for power. These motivators are not inherent, we develop them through our culture and life experiences. Each person is motivated by either one of these motivators – power, affiliation and achievement. In each person, one of these drivers is usually more dominant, but the others are present.

Power

If an individual’s predominant motive is power, they are motivated to influence others and take control. Power must not be perceived negatively, when it is pursued for the right reason, it is found tremendously powerful.  McClelland found that power-motivated individuals were best suited for leadership positions within a company. If they were able to effectively delegate tasks in the workforce, they were often able to be successful leaders. 

While history has seen some power-hungry rulers such as Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and Idi Amin who used their power for cruelty we also have examples of some good leaders such as Subhash Chandra Bose, Nelson Mandela, M.K.Gandhi and presently Narendra Modi.    

Leaders enjoy power when they possess ability to influence others. Power is required for attaining organizational and institutional goals. Power is a doble-edged sword if not used properly, it destroys organizations.

Achievement

If an individual’s predominant motive is achievement, he will be satisfied only after achieving. Achievement-oriented individuals change the situation or the location when they want to. When achievement becomes need of a person, he/she chases the achievement.  Such individuals do not like working in groups because they do not like having limited control over the outcome. Instead, they prefer to do work where the results are clear and visible. Successful entrepreneurs are achievement-oriented. They value accomplishment and the intrinsic rewards that go along with achieving difficult goals. It is a strong motivator for most business owners. Some excellent examples of achievement-oriented people are M.S.Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dhirubhai Ambani, G.D.Birla, Azim Premji etc.

Affiliation

If an individual’s predominant desire is affiliation, they are essentially motivated by social connections. The need for affiliation itself as an emotional drive towards being liked and accepted. Individuals with a high need for affiliation desire having agreeable and collaborative working relationships with others and a pleasant social environment.

People who have a strong drive for affiliation, are ready to fit in a group by hook or by crook. Belonging to others is a primary human need.  They are flexible they try to please others. They value their relationships in life the most. These individuals appreciate familiar situations and familiarity everywhere in life. They are unlikely to leave their work location. They also do not like working alone and try to avoid disappointing their co-workers and managers at all costs. Even though affiliation-motivated individuals work well in a team, they are often not the best employees. They are not motivated to do better as they are contented to stay in their position. There is no drive to improve their employee status or their personal position, which makes them not so effective workers.

Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory

Fedrick Herzberg’s behavioural theory is considered as one of the oldest theories that describes job factors which inspire employees. Herzberg was a contemporary of Abraham Maslow who had coined the need pyramid theory. Psychologist Fredrick Herzberg tried to find answer to a most pertinent question in 1950s and 1960s, what people want from their employment, what makes employees satisfied in an organization? He conducted a study by asking people to describe situations in which they felt really good, and really bad, about their jobs. What he found was that people who felt good about their jobs gave very different responses from the people who felt bad. Person to person they varied.

Hygiene factors

These are the job factors which are essential for existence of motivation at workplace. The hygiene factors symbolize the physiological needs which the individuals want and are expected to be fulfilled in their work place. However, these do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. Therefore, they are also called dissatisfiers. But, if these factors are not present, they lead to discontent. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which pacify the employees.  Salaries, fringe benefits, canteen facilities, position, work culture and job security are hygiene factors in a job.

Motivators

The other feature is called motivators or satisfiers. These are linked to employee motivation which arises from built-in or dependent conditions on the job itself. The motivational factors are referred to as self-worth or self-respect. This is an important part of employment for many. Self-esteem is more important for numerous people. A person’s overall sense of self-worth or his personal values adds productivity to his style of working. The motivational factors for gratification include recognition, responsibility, job satisfaction, contests, achievement, opportunities for growth, anything that helps in advancement of career. The realization and fulfilment of one’s talents and potentials help these employees in achieving actualization. Herzberg’s motivators can be described as Maslow’s self-esteem and self-actualization which is an innate drive for some employees. 

Reinforcement theory by B. F. Skinner

Reinforcement theory is a psychological principle suggesting that behaviours are shaped by their consequences, and that individual behaviours can be changed through reinforcement, punishment and extinction.

Behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner was instrumental in developing modern ideas about reinforcement theory. According to Skinner, a person’s internal needs and drives are not important areas of concern because their current behaviours follow the law of effect and are based on the consequences of past behaviors. This means that behaviors can be altered or manipulated over time.

There are four types of reinforcements: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, extinction, and punishment. Positive reinforcement is the application of a positive reinforcers.

Positive reinforcement

one of the key ideas in the reinforcement theory of motivation is that positive reinforcement can with rewards reinforces desired behaviours. For example, appreciating an employee with a certificate, a holiday package, a promotion etc.

Negative reinforcement

Negative reinforcement involves the removal of disgust or aversion of the employee towards his work example is some penalty. This can be done with counselling with mentoring an employee etc.

Punishment

It’s used for maintaining a positive and productive work culture. Example is issuing a warning letter, reprimanding habitual late coming etc.  

Extinction

Extinction reinforcement theory is a strategy in which employees are neither praised nor reprimanded for their work product, behaviour or team interaction. In this management scenario, workers don’t run the risk of workplace humiliation, but they also forego recognition for a job well done.

When a person feels isolated from his/her group of acquaintances, family, friends, society the person feels alienated. The experience of being isolated is dreadful. When a person feels ignored, or left out alone, his enthusiasm and spirit of working drops.  Employees become emotionally separated from others and their own feelings when they feel alienated. Feelings of alienation can happen without the employees or their manager realizing it.

Adams’ equity theory of motivation

Adam’s Equity Theory, also known as the Equity Theory of Motivation, was developed in 1963 by John Stacey Adams, a Belgian psychologist known for workplace behavior. When people exhibit inappropriate behavior in the workplace, everyone suffers. Equity Theory is based on the idea that individuals are motivated by justice. In simple terms, equity theory states that if an individual identifies an inequity between himself and a peer, he automatically will adjust his working style to make the situation fair in his own eyes. As an example of equity theory, if an employee learns that a peer doing exactly the same job as him is earning more money, he may choose to do less work, thus feeling justified in his own eyes.

The structure of equity in the workplace is based on the ratio of inputs to outcomes. Inputs are the contributions made by the employee for the organization. Inputs for instance come in form of the number of hours worked (effort), the commitment shown, the enthusiasm shown, experience brought to the role, personal sacrifices made, responsibilities and duties of the individual in the role. Outputs are the result an individual receives as a result of their inputs to the organization. Some of these benefits will be tangible, such as salary and promotion, but others will be intangible, such as recognition and appreciation. Common outputs include salary, bonus, pension, annual holiday allowance, company car, company home, stock options, recognition, and promotion.

The more appealing and enjoyable the organization culture is, the happier their employees will be. It is not possible for a worker to be genuinely engaged when they are unhappy. Employees keep comparing with each other in regards to salary, perks, recognition and promotion. By cultivating a strong corporate culture, organizations increase the chances of good employee engagement. And, engaged employees are more likely to be great advocates of the organization brand. When organizations maintain rational inputs and outputs, they get clarity in defining equity. Equity is defined as an individual’s outputs divided by that same person’s inputs. Adam’s Equity Theory goes a step further and states that individuals look around and compare their promotions and perks to others in the same industry. If they perceive an inequity then they will adjust their inputs to restore balance.

Vroom’s expectancy theory

Victor Harold Vroom is a business school professor at the Yale School of Management. His expectancy theory of motivation is the belief that an individual chooses to behave in a particular way based on what could bring him the most beneficial outcome. Vroom’s expectancy theory assumes that employee behaviour results from conscious choices to maximize pleasure. Vroom noted through his study that an employee’s performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.

Vroom says that an individual’s motivation is affected by how much he is valued in his organization and rewards associated with it. This act is called Valence. Employers must recognize that employees will put efforts which will generate good results which Vroom calls Expectancy.

Valence

Valence refers to the emotional orientation of people with respect to outcomes (rewards). The depth of the want of an employee for extrinsic satisfaction includes money, promotion, time-off, leave benefits etc. For intrinsic satisfaction rewards such as sense of fulfilment, sense of achievement is important. Management must find out what an employee values – extrinsic or intrinsic satisfaction.

Instrumentality

Instrumentality is the perception of employees as to whether they will actually get what they desire. Sometimes the boss promises additional perks or benefits  – often the promises are not fulfilled. Management must ensure that promises made must be fulfilled.

Motivation is a function of valence, instrumentality and expectancy. M = V x I x E

Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory

Dr Edwin Locke and Dr Gary Latham spent many years researching the theory of goal setting, during the time spent on the research, they identified five elements that need to be in place for individuals to achieve goals.

Clarity, Challenge, Commitment, Feedback and Task Complexity.

Clarity

A clear, measurable goal is more achievable than one that is poorly defined. The most effective goals have a specific timeline for completion.

Challenge

The goal must be little challenging in order to achieve it. If the goal is easily met, it becomes a plain achievement.

Commitment

one needs to put thoughtful effort into meeting a goal. When you share your goal with someone else in order to increase your accountability you will put in efforts to achieve that goal.

Feedback

For achieving a set goal one must learn to take feedback from genuine people from time to time.

Task Complexity

If a goal is especially complex, make sure you give yourself enough time to overcome the learning curve (involved in completing the task. In other words, if a goal is really tough, make sure you give yourself some padding to give you the best chance at succeeding.

Man’s needs are never fulfilled and he is never satisfied. When deficit need more or less gets satisfied, it will go away, and man gets engaged in activities towards meeting the next set of needs that are yet to be satisfied. These then become most important needs. However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have been engaged. For the attainment of lasting harmony, a person must successfully complete all the lessons of human development. The fact is man is trapped in the “need cycle”.

The fundamental needs of human are physiological needs: hunger, sleep, thirst, and sex; then comes safety needs: clothes and shelter. After safety need comes social needs: affiliation, belonging, connection in society because man is a social animal. Self-esteem reflects an individual’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is the decision made by an individual as an attitude towards the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself. And, lastly the zenith of one’s life is self actualization – the insight of fulfilment of life. So, a man is always on run to fulfil his physical, security, love and friendship and esteems needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire on fulfilling the secondary or higher level needs.

Maturity comes only when a person goes through all stages of lifecycle and one faces all good and bad situations in each stage.  People whom we feel have a high level of maturity  possess a breadth of life experience. It does not depend on age alone it depends on experience along with reflection. When reflection happens simultaneously while experiencing something, it enriches the experience. The longer you wait to reflect on an experience, the less valuable the reflection becomes.

The pyramid always symbolises bigger consciousness of strength and energy. At the spiritual level the pyramid is a symbol for the integration of self-and soul. The base of the pyramid stands for the body, the sides show the spiritual endeavours and the top point symbolises the harmonious union of the human with the God. In all of us, there are two aspects. There is our real inner, divine self and there is also the body and intellect which gives us a separate egoist entity. With practice of spirituality, we realise that we cannot limit ourselves to the body and intellect, but merge with the Universal Consciousness.

What makes a pyramid so powerful is its ability to channel or collect energy from the higher realms of the stars, the planets and the Universe and deliver it down to earth. The bottom of the pyramid stands for a firm, earthy foundation, whereas the pointed top represents being able to reach into higher area of consciousness.

All of us are capable to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, many get bogged down and disrupted by failures to meet lower level needs. We get all sorts of experiences including divorce, loss of a job, illness, getting cheated, loss of money and many other problems which can cause fluctuation between levels of the hierarchy. Therefore, not everyone will move through the hierarchy in an identical or similar manner. Each individual moves back and forth between the different types of needs according to situations in his/her life.

Spirituality helps in broader sense; to embrace diverse modes to connect with reality beyond oneself, it makes one resourceful to tackle all ups and downs of life.  Despite of one’s belief or non-belief in God, there is power in recognizing the numerous ways in which one is connected to the fabric of life.  Through prayer, meditation, reflection, appreciation of the natural world, being helpful to others, or fostering deeper relationships with others, we are able to refill ourselves from sources of the environment, Mother Nature. Spirituality gives patience to pause, listen deeply, and notice the countless ways in which our bodies, minds and souls can be replenished, each moment of our lives.

Self actualization is a process which develops as one grows. People get jumbled between spirituality and self-actualization. Spiritually, self actualization is evolving into a knowing that brings one closer to an understanding of how to live in the world with a sense of wholeness and attaining the inner peace.

What do people want from their jobs? This is an important question; because it’s at the root of why would someone go to work. A manager must know how to engage his team members, to get the best performance out of them. Psychologist Fredrick Herzberg tried to find answer to this pertinent quest in 1950s and 1960s, what people want from their employment, what makes employees satisfied in an organization? He conducted a study by asking people to describe situations in which they felt really good, and really bad, about their jobs. What he found was that people who felt good about their jobs gave very different responses from the people who felt bad. Person to person they varied.

These results form the basis of Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory which was published in his famous article, “One More Time: How do You Motivate Employees,” the conclusions he drew were amazingly influential, and they still form the foundation of good motivational practice even half a century later. The theory concludes that there are certain factors in the workplace that can cause job satisfaction and a separate set of factors that can cause dissatisfaction.

Herzberg’s Hygiene factors: These are those job factors which are essential for existence of motivation at workplace. The hygiene factors symbolize the physiological needs which the individuals want and are expected to be fulfilled in their work place. However, these do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. Therefore, they are also called dissatisfiers. But, if these factors are not present, they lead to discontent. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which appease the employees. The essential factors are:

Pay or compensation:  The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be equal and competitive to those in the same industry for the same job profile.

Fringe benefits: Employees require additional benefits such as breakfast, lunch (canteen at workplace), paid leave, health care benefits such as mediclaim, provident fund, gratuity, staff welfare, bonus etc. They like benefits passed on to their family members as well.

Position: Employees enjoy a suitable position in an organization. They get recognized by their position.

Work culture: Employees like to be respected by the employers. The work culture in organization matters. Their association with peers, superiors and subordinates needs to be respectable. Conflicts, grapevine and politicking spoil the work culture. Employees like to be treated with fairness.

Job Security:  People like to work in organizations which provide job security for achieving long-term career goals, better position helps them financially. A secured job enables them   marketable skills and fetch a reasonably good job in future.

Motivators: The other factor is called motivators or satisfiers. These are linked to employee motivation which arises from built-in or dependent conditions on the job itself. The motivational factors are referred to as self-worth or self-respect. This is an important part of success. Too little self-esteem can leave people feeling beaten or depressed. It can also lead people to make bad choices, fall into destructive relationships, or fail to live up to their full potential.  A person’s overall sense of self-worth or personal value adds productivity to his style of working. The motivational factors for satisfaction include responsibility, job satisfaction, recognition, achievement, opportunities for growth, and advancement. Finally, the realization or fulfilment of one’s talents and full potentials lead him in achieving actualization. Self esteem and self actualization are considered as innate drive in almost everyone.

Motivational factors include:

Recognition: Good employees like to be known for their talent and good job. When their superiors and peers appreciate their hard work, they feel nice. When employees feel acknowledged, they are more likely to be motivated and more productive in their everyday work lives. This is a fact that employee recognition does not have to come in the form of a formal reward. It may come in the form of a good certificate or appreciation delivered informally in a conversation or email. Money is not the only motivator.

Feeling of achievement: The sense of achievement works like a booster for the employees.   This depends on the job. Achievement is most commonly associated with a grade, promotion of some sort. Achievement typically measures externally imposed standard. Accomplishment typically describes an internally motivated goal. It leads towards growth of a person in his career. Managers must allow their subordinates in achieving fulfilment of their career goals.

Responsibility: The employees must be given ownership of work by their superiors.  They should minimize control but retain accountability. Being responsible means being dependable, keeping promises and honouring commitments made by an individual. It is accepting the consequences for what one says and does. It develops a person’s potential. People who are responsible don’t make excuses for their actions or blame others when things go wrong.

Meaningfulness of the work: Meaningful work is something everyone wants. Each person has an innate quest for meaning and purpose of life. It becomes stronger and stronger as a person matures with all good and bad experiences of life. Some of the recent studies have shown that meaningfulness is more important to employees than any other aspect of work, as well as pay and rewards. Therefore, opportunities for promotion or working conditions matter. Meaningful work can be highly motivational, leading to improved performance, commitment, and satisfaction. For example, an intelligent researcher would find a professor’s job significant, in which he could impart his knowledge to students.

Conclusion: Maslow once stated that business leaders must set up healthy conditions so that employees can enjoy peak experiences in their jobs, they can act perversely to reduce their eagerness. His quote is a potential reflection on what is happening in today’s organizations and mainly its leaders who fail to help deliver a purposeful organization and equally important, a purposeful employee mindset. Herzberg’s theory echoes the same philosophy.