Theories of Motivation and Their Application in Modern Workplace: A Case Study of Unilever

This report discusses the theories of motivation and their application in the modern workplace, using Unilever as a case study. It focuses on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and how Unilever fulfills the needs of its employees to enhance their productivity.

Essay

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Discuss theories of motivation and how to apply then in the modern workplace..................3
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals.................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Organisations involve motivation so that they can drive the employees in order to meet
collective and individual goals. It increases the level of commitment of employees towards
organisation so that they can achieve goals and targets in effective manner (Crandall and et.al.,
2020). organisations provide various type of motivating factors to their employees including
incentives, perks and benefits. This report is based on Unilever which is a multinational
consumer goods organisation. It is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and it was
founded on 2 September, 1929. It offers various products in personal care, nutrition and hygiene
to their customers in order to satisfy their requirements. This report will include about theories of
motivation and their application in modern workplace.
MAIN BODY
Discuss theories of motivation and how to apply then in the modern workplace.
Motivation is an important factor which assist individuals in achieving their personal goals
so that they can develop their career and required manner. Organisations can achieve the target
in effective and efficient manner by motivating their employees according to their preferences.
Unilever will focus on analysing the needs and demands of the employees so that they can
provide benefits according to them which enhance their productivity (Cui and et.al., 2021).
Goals and objectives can be achieved by Unilever when they motivate their employees in
appropriate manner which improves their working habits. It assist in enhancing the engagement
of employee in an organisation so that they can eliminate employee turnover. In order to identify
the requirements, Unilever uses Maslow’s hierarchy of need in their organisation. It was
introduced by Abraham Maslow in 1943 and which suggest that employees are motivated when
their basic needs are fulfilled. It involves hierarchy of different needs which have to be fulfilled
one after another in order to motivate employees in best possible manner.

Figure 1 Maslow's need hierarchy
The first need of hierarchy refers to physiological needs which can be said as basic needs of
an individual. Organisations have to fulfil these needs so that their employees can survive in
better manner because these are essential for the survival (White, 2020). This includes
requirement of food, water, air, shelter, clothes and sleep which Unilever fulfil effectively by
providing basic wages and salary to their employees. sometimes, Unilever provide shelter to
their employees by providing them accommodations so that they can motivate them. This helps
their employees in motivating themselves in order to accomplish operations in the required
manner. fulfilment of these needs should be carried out effective manner because goals can be
achieved only when these needs are satisfied (Fallatah and Syed, 2018). It is important for
Unilever to satisfy these needs because after fulfilling these needs next level of need can be
developed from the hierarchy. This need is important to be fulfilled so that individual can
develop next level of needs which is higher in the hierarchy.
The next level of need comes of safety and security which develop after physiological
needs in the hierarchy. Individuals need to control actions and activities in their life so that they
can achieve growth and success in appropriate manner. Safety is very important factor as it assist

in contributing efforts willingly without any disturbances. Some of the safety and security needs
include health and wellness, emotional security, financial security, personal security and many
more (Guo, Weng, Zhang, Liu and Wang, 2019). Unilever provides formal job letter which
satisfy the need of job security at work place. They provide various benefits like insurance
policies, accommodations, authorities and other benefits which motivate them to perform in
desired manner. Unilever also provide a safe working environment to their unemployed by
focusing on their problems and grievances which enhance their productivity. Regular health care
facilities are provided by Unilever so that they can maintain healthy work force in their
organisation. they focus on the requirements of their employees on regular basis which assist in
better motivation which results in achievement of objectives (Lussier, 2019). Work place
policies and procedures should be formulated in desired manner which provide sense of security.
Unilever also provides compensation for the injuries and accidents on work place so that
employees can work in effective and efficient manner without any burden.
Fulfilment of safety and security needs develop next level of need from hierarchy which is
love and social belonging needs. This suggest that human beings require interpersonal
relationship at workplace so that they can share their thoughts, views, feelings and emotions in
desired manner (Stewart, Nodoushani and Stumpf, 2018). Unilever ensures that their employees
respect each other and accept different religious groups so that they can promote harmony and
peace work place. Belongingness needs involves trust, acceptance, friendship and affection with
co-workers so that they can feel satisfied which motivates them to contribute their efforts in
positive manner. Unilever focus on celebrating diverse occasions, arrange sports and games and
organise events so that each and every employee participate. It assists them in eliminating social
anxiety, loneliness and critical depression of their employees so that they can enhance and
improve their performance and productivity in effective manner (Hale and et.al., 2020).
Increased interaction results in maintaining positive work environment which also helps in
resolving various misunderstandings and doubts so that outcomes can be achieved in positive
manner. maintaining healthy relationships also assist in sharing of innovative and creative ideas
in better manner so that operations can be performed in required manner.
The next need which evolves from hierarchy arise esteem needs which requires self respect
along with the respect from others. Employees require a stable esteem so that they can grow
their career in desired manner by motivating themselves. It involves various needs like

recognition, status, attention, prestige and fame at a workplace which motivates them to
accomplish operations which are required for achievement of targets (Sharma, Narasimha and
Singh, 2022). Unilever appreciate the efforts of their employees so that they can satisfy their
esteem needs which helps in their growth. Unilever promote their employees and provide
incentives so that they can motivate them to achieve higher success. Managers of Unilever gives
value to their employees and make them feel important in their organisation by appreciating their
efforts. This celebrates small achievements so that employees can desire for higher achievements
with the help of motivation. Organisations should allow their employees in participating in
professional activities and promote team participation so that they can effectively fulfil their
esteem needs. It increases the confidence level of employees which assist them in developing
required abilities and skills so that they can develop their career in best possible manner.
Providing respect to employees can assist them in evaluating their personal worth which is
essential motivating factor for achievement of desired and prescribed goals.
This is the last need of hierarchy which is self actualisation need. This need is concerned
with a self awareness, personal growth and fulfilment of full potential of an individual (Smith
and Sweet, 2021). Employees need to realise their potential so that they can meet their
requirements in effective manner. This need is different for each and every individual because of
their experiences, skills and abilities. Unilever promote their employees in order to fulfil their
self actualisation needs and give them power so that they can motivate them. It is important to
satisfy this need as it is the last stage of needs which should be identified by managers of
organisation. Unilever provide various benefits to their employees so that they can motivate in
order to achieve success. Employees thought they are capable to do each and every activity
because of their past experiences (Shih and et.al., 2019). Managers of Unilever promote their
employees to the position where they want which boost their morale in appropriate manner.
personal growth is highly focused factor in this level of hierarchy which should be fulfilled in
desired manner.
Analysis
It is analysed that motivation is vital factor in modern workplaces in order to get things
done by employees in appropriate manner. Unilever have used Maslow's need hierarchy to
motivate their employees according to their choices. This theory analyse different levels of need
in particular order which have to be fulfilled by organisation. The first level of hierarchy

includes basic needs which helps employees in their survival. Modern organisations like
Unilever satisfy the physiological needs which indulge the need of next level which is safety and
security. It helped in enchantment of employee engagement in an organisation for longer period
of time (Schulte, 2018). The third level of hierarchy suggest that employees require need for
love and belongingness which is satisfied by Unilever in appropriate manner by involving each
employee in all the activities. After fulfilment of these activities, organisations should focus on
esteem needs of employees by giving them respect. The last need of hierarchy is self
actualisation which suggest that employee wants to recognise for their achievements. It is
analysed that Unilever have successfully identified the needs of their employees which results in
positive outcomes.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that organisations motivate their employees in
order to enhance their performance. Motivation basically means desires, needs, drives and wants
which individual poses in order to accomplish a task and activities. Organisations uses various
motivating factors in order to stimulate their employees so that they can perform in required
manner which assist them in achievement of collective goals. Organisations should analyse the
preferences and requirements of their employees and motivate them according to their needs so
that they can achieve positive outcomes. This report included about motivation theory which is
used by organisations in order to motivate their employees

REFERENCES:
Books and Journals
Crandall and et.al., 2020. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a framework for understanding
adolescent depressive symptoms over time. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(2),
pp.273-281.
Cui and et.al., 2021. Predicting determinants of consumers' purchase motivation for electric
vehicles: An application of Maslow's hierarchy of needs model. Energy Policy, 151,
p.112167.
Fallatah, R.H.M. and Syed, J., 2018. A critical review of Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs. Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia, pp.19-59.
Guo, J., Weng, D., Zhang, Z., Liu, Y. and Wang, Y., 2019, March. Evaluation of maslows
hierarchy of needs on long-term use of hmds–a case study of office environment. In 2019
IEEE conference on virtual reality and 3D user interfaces (VR) (pp. 948-949). IEEE.
Hale and et.al., 2020. Comparing 2 adapted maslow's hierarchy of needs frameworks on
physician wellness. The American Journal of Medicine, 133(9), pp.e532-e533.
Lussier, K., 2019. Of Maslow, motives, and managers: The hierarchy of needs in American
business, 1960–1985. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 55(4), pp.319-
341.
Schulte, M., 2018. Adult learning degree and career pathways: Allusions to maslow's hierarchy
of needs. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 66(1), pp.62-64.
Sharma, M.K., Narasimha, S. and Singh, P., 2022. Battle of royale game: Perspective from
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(1), pp.227-
229.
Shih and et.al., 2019. The association of sociodemographic factors and needs of haemodialysis
patients according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Journal of clinical nursing, 28(1-2),
pp.270-278.
Smith, C.M. and Sweet, J., 2021. Analyzing the Relationship between Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs and Consumer Spending Patterns. Journal of Financial Service
Professionals, 75(4).
Stewart, C., Nodoushani, O. and Stumpf, J., 2018, July. Cultivating employees using Maslow's
hierarchy of needs. In Competition Forum (Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 67-75). American Society
for Competitiveness.
White, P.A., 2020. Maslow's hierarchy of needs and water management. Journal of Hydrology
(New Zealand), 59(1), pp.1-16.