What Businesses Get Wrong With Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model has been around for a long time, but it seems like businesses have not yet caught on to what it means or how to fully harness the principles for greater success and competitive advantage.

The concept of Maslow’s model is that human beings can only address the higher order “needs” after the previous layers have been adequately addressed.  But, what’s not commonly known is that Maslow grouped the first 4 levels of needs were grouped as “deficiency” needs.  Only after adequately addressing the deficiencies are we really able to fully tackle Self-actualization which is characterized as a “growth” need. For example, you won’t be thinking about self actualization if you’ve no place to live, or don’t have a job. 

Businesses get mixed up on this all the time.  They do provide you a job - it’s a key foundation in the hierarchy of needs.  But then they skip over the other levels of “need” to focus on skills training to make you your best in hopes of getting more out of you.  I’m not so sure they are the most interested in your self actualization but rather in you becoming the best version of yourself that provides the business with the best output. 

This isn’t necessarily all bad.  But too often companies forget that to get the most out of their employees they need to provide the preceding foundational elements from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as well.  The good companies remember and work on the “Esteem” level.  But, the best companies understand the need for connection and work on the “Love and Belonging” needs level. They not only help provide opportunities to connect, but teach their employees the emotional skills to do so in a meaningful way.  That is how you maximize potential of employees, and your company.

To really get the the most out of their workforce, companies need to remember the fundamental levels of human need. Businesses are starting to get a better handle on the “esteem” level of need, but too many miss the “connection” level of need. In our world today of chaos, separation, layoffs, do-more-with-less, connection is critical, and yet we don’t talk about it much in business.  We don’t teach how to do it.  And businesses miss out on the benefits of understanding and tapping into these fundamental human needs.  That’s what businesses get wrong with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.