Personal growth
In Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs, self-fulfilment or self-
actualization is the highest need of all and is therefore the ulti-
mate motivator. He defines self-fulfilment as ‘the need to
develop potentialities and skills, to become what one believes
one is capable of becoming’.
Ambitious and determined people will seek and find these
opportunities for themselves, although the organization needs to
clarify the scope for growth and development it can provide (if it
does not, they will go away and grow elsewhere).
Increasingly, however, individuals at all levels in organiza-
tions, whether or not they are eaten up by ambition, recognize
the importance of continually upgrading their skills and of
progressively developing their careers. Many people now regard
access to training as a key element in the overall reward package.
The availability of learning opportunities, the selection of indi-
viduals for high-prestige training courses and programmes, and
the emphasis placed by the organization on the acquisition of
new skills as well as the enhancement of existing ones, can all act
as powerful motivators.
TEN STEPS TO ACHIEVING HIGH LEVELS OF
MOTIVATIONThe following 10 steps need to be taken if you wish to achieve
higher levels of motivation:
- Set and agree demanding but achievable goals.
- Provide feedback on performance.
- Create expectations that certain behaviours and outputs will
produce worthwhile rewards when people succeed but will
result in penalties if they fail. - Design jobs which enable people to feel a sense of accom-
plishment, to express and use their abilities and to exercise
their own decision-making powers. - Provide appropriate financial incentives and rewards for
achievement (pay-for-performance). - Provide appropriate non-financial rewards such as recogni-
tion and praise for work well done.
How to Motivate People 229