In the first half of the 20th century, the American psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his theory on human motivation, in which he established the five types of needs that all people have, from the most basic to the most aspirational, structured in levels of logic. ascending, understanding that in order to meet each new need, the previous one must be covered. This is how the famous “Maslow pyramid” was born.
Now that there is such a hot debate about the difficulties of attracting and retaining talent, it is a good time for organizations to recover these classic theories and use them to question whether they are really covering the essential needs of their people. Sometimes, the mistake of wanting to start the house from the roof is made, filling the office with table football and Steve Jobs phrases, with the noble intention of gaining attractiveness, but without having well-anchored management fundamentals.
In this sense, Maslow's pyramid applied to the workplace indicates that the most basic needs have to do with financial compensation, since it is what allows us to satisfy all physiological issues. Thus, having a competitive, fair and transparent salary policy is the main support of the entire pyramid, without which the higher levels are meaningless.
In fact, the latest survey carried out by Randstad in 2022 points in the same direction, since the most in-demand professionals worldwide (with skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics) continue to choose salary as the most important aspect, with a 68% preference.
In the second level of Maslow are the needs related to security, something that companies should reflect in career plans, that is, in tracing the career path of each employee, so that they can visualize the potential of their future trajectory, more beyond the immediate milestones.
If we cover the two previous requirements, we can ascend to level three of the pyramid, where social needs are found, very subject to policies for reconciling work and family life. Simplifying, it is about offering a good schedule, with the necessary elements of flexibility, so that people can attend to their multiple responsibilities.
On the fourth step are the needs for esteem and recognition, which are directly linked to leadership, that is, to the desirability of having trained and capable managers, who know how to exercise the "humanist management" that the teacher Xavier Marcet always advocates.
And, finally, the top of the pyramid is occupied by self-realization needs, which can also be satisfied in the workplace, through a good internal promotion policy that encourages meritocracy and commits to internal talent.
Decent salary, career plan, good hours, competent boss and internal promotion. With these five basic elements we can help meet the needs that Maslow pointed out and, consequently, build a very important competitive advantage in the fight for talent.
The alternative is to do nothing and stigmatize young people, assuring that the problem is theirs, that they "do not want to work", that "they are spoiled", and that "they do not value anything". The only problem with sticking to these three conjectures is that Socrates already wrote them, literally, 2,500 years ago.
