McClelland’s Needs Theory In A Managerial Context

McClelland’s needs theory is a motivational model that seeks to explain how the need for achievement, power and belonging affects people’s actions in a leadership position.

In the early 1940s, Abraham Maslow created his own theory of needs. This theory identified human basic needs: physiological, security, belonging, self-confidence and self-realization.

Two decades later, David McClelland published his book The Achieving Society. In this book, he identified three motivations he thought we all had: the need for achievement, power, and belonging. In fact, people have different characteristics, depending on their dominant motivation.

According to McClelland’s theory of needs, these motivations are acquired. This is why the theory is sometimes also called the theory of the acquired needs.

Dominant motivations

McClelland says that, regardless of gender, culture or age, we have three motivations, and one of them is dominant. This dominant motivation depends a lot on our life experiences.

The three dominant motivations McClelland identified are:

• Need for achievement: People who need achievement as their motivation, focus on setting and achieving challenging goals, and they are good at taking calculated risks to achieve them. In addition, they like to constantly get feedback on their progress and results. They usually prefer to work alone.
• Need for connection: People who need connection as their motivation will always be part of a group. For them, it is more important to cooperate than to compete. In addition, they do not like risky challenges or uncertain situations. They tend to agree with everything the rest of the group says or wants to do.

• Need for power: People with this dominant motivation will take control and influence others. They like to win arguments, compete and win, and be recognized and respected.

Use of McClelland’s needs theory

From a managerial point of view, McClelland’s needs theory can help identify the most important motivations for team members and thus influence the decision-making and feedback processes, as well as motivate and reward. These motivations can also be used to assign work according to each team member’s characteristics, which can lead to better performance.

Need for achievement

The need for achievement is when a person wants to excel in everything they do. It is the need that forces a person to work and even fight for the outcome they want to achieve. People with this dominant need will excel and especially avoid:

• Low risk or small reward situations.
• For difficult or high-risk situations.

People with this dominant need generally have a strong desire to set difficult goals for themselves and achieve them. They prefer to work in an environment that focuses on getting concrete results, and they always appreciate feedback on their work.

Those who are inspired by performance take calculated risks to achieve their goals, and they tend to avoid both high-risk and low-risk situations. They often prefer to work alone. People who are strongly motivated by performance believe in a hierarchical structure, mainly derived from performance in the workplace.

Also when it comes to feedback, people who are strongly motivated by this need appreciate balanced and fair evaluation. They want to know what they are doing right and wrong so that they can improve.

Need for affiliation

The need for connection is the need to have interpersonal and social relationships with other people or with a specific group of people. People who are motivated by this need will always work in groups where they can establish friendly and long-lasting relationships. In addition, they must feel loved by others. They like to work with others to compete with them and usually avoid high-risk or unsafe situations.

People motivated by this need feel good when their own group makes them feel that they belong. They like to spend their time socializing and maintaining relationships, and they need to feel loved and accepted.

They also tend to follow societal rules in the workplace, and they usually do not try to change them for fear of rejection. They prefer to work together to compete. And they work better in positions where they have to interact with others, such as customer service.

They love to receive personal and individual feedback. It is also very important for them that others emphasize and acknowledge the way they have responded to the trust they place in them. Also, we need to keep in mind that these people often do not want to stand out, so it is better to talk to them privately.

Need for power

The need for power is when a person feels a desire to be in control, have authority over other people, and influence and change people’s decisions according to their own needs or desires. The need to improve self-esteem and reputation encourages them a lot. They want people to accept and implement their views and ideas above others. They also tend to be strong leaders.

There are two types of power needs:

• Need for personal power.
• Need for institutional power.

If someone needs personal power, they will control other people. If they need institutional power, they require leadership and coordination from a team to achieve a specific common goal.

In any case, the competition motivates them, and they like to win arguments. Status and confirmation are important to them, as well as being the leaders of the “winning team”. They have a lot of self-discipline and expect the same from their employees.

You need to give people who are motivated by this need direct feedback. In addition, they work better when the company they work for helps them achieve their professional ambitions.

Comparison theories

Another theory similar to McClelland is Sirota’s three – factor theory, which also suggests three motivators: equity / justice, achievement and camaraderie.

According to Sirota, everyone starts a new job enthusiastically and motivated to do well, but over time, bad company policies or other conditions cause employees to lose motivation. However, McClelland’s needs theory claims that motivation is very important for workers.