McClelland’s Needs Theory Managerially

McClelland’s needs theory is a motivational model that seeks to explain how the need for performance, power and attachment affects people’s actions in a managerial context.

In the early 1940s, Abraham Maslow created his own theory of needs. This theory identified the basic needs of man: Physiological, security, attachment, recognition and self-realization.

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

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

Dominant needs

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

The three dominant needs identified by McClelland are:

• Need for performance. People whose increased motivation is the need for achievement are focused on continuing and achieving challenging goals, and they are good at taking calculated risks to achieve their goals. In addition, they like to constantly get feedback about their progress and results. They usually prefer to work alone.
• Need for affiliation. People whose dominant motivation is the need for attachment will always want to be in a group. For them, it is more important to cooperate rather than compete. Moreover, they do not like risky challenges or uncertain situations. They tend to agree on everything the rest of the group says or wants to do.

• Need for power. People with this dominant motivation want to take control and influence others. They like to win discussions, compete and win as well as be recognized and valued.

Using McClelland’s needs theory

From a managerial standpoint, McClelland’s needs theory can help identify key motivations for team members and thus influence the decision-making and feedback processes, as well as incentives and rewards.

These motivations can also be used to assign work after each team member’s trait, which can lead to improved performance.

Need for performance

The need for achievement is when a person wants to excel in everything the person does. It is the need that forces a person to work and even fight for the result 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 and achieve them. They prefer to work in an environment that focuses on getting specific 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 high-risk and low-risk situations. They often prefer to work alone. People who are highly motivated by performance believe in a hierarchical structure that is primarily derived from results in the workplace.

Furthermore, when it comes to feedback, people who are highly motivated by this need value balanced and fair assessments. They want to know what they are doing right and wrong so they can improve.

Need for affiliation

The need for attachment is the need to have interpersonal and social relationships with other people or with a particular group of people. People who are motivated by this need will always work in groups where they can establish friendly and long lasting relationships.

They also need to feel loved by others. They like to collaborate with others to compete with them and usually avoid high risk or insecure situations.

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

They also tend to abide by the societal rules of the workplace and they usually do not try to change them for fear of rejection. They prefer to cooperate rather than compete. They work better in positions where they need to interact with others, such as customer service.

They love receiving personal and individual feedback. It is also very important for them to emphasize and acknowledge the way in which they have responded to the trust placed in them. In addition, we need to keep in mind that these people often do not want to stand out. Therefore, it is better to talk to them privately.

Need for power

The need for power is when a person feels like being in control, having authority over other people and influencing and changing people’s decisions according to their own needs or desires. The need to improve their self-esteem and reputation greatly encourages them.

They want people to accept and implement their views and ideas over others. And then they tend to become 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 particular common goal.

In any case , competition motivates them and they enjoy winning discussions. Status and recognition are important to them, as well as being the leader of the “winning team”. They have great self-discipline and expect the same from their colleagues.

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 fulfill their professional ambitions.

Comparable theories

Another theory similar to McClelland’s is Sirota’s three-factor theory, which also suggests three motivations: Equality / justice, achievement, and camaraderie.

According to Sirota, everyone starts a new job enthusiastically and motivated to do well. But over time, bad corporate policies or other conditions will cause them to lose motivation. McClelland’s theory, however, claims that motivation is really important to employees.