The biggest challenge for any company is to constantly motivate its employees so that employees work hard which in turn will help the company in achieving its objectives. McClelland theory is one of the theories of motivation, according to this theory at the workplace there are three major needs of employees which are a need for achievement, need for power and need for affiliation.
According to McClelland theory companies should give challenging tasks to those people who fall under need for achievement matrix as they tend to work hard so as to achieve the given objective while those tasks which require persuasion or power to influence should be given to those people who fall under need for power matrix whereas need for affiliation is another matrix which is ideal for those people who are more interested in maintaining social relations even at work. In order to understand more about this concept, one should look at the advantages and disadvantages of McClelland theory –
Advantages of McClelland Theory
Employees are given tasks according to their Needs
The biggest advantage of this theory is that employees of the company are given tasks according to their needs which help in motivating employees as the biggest problem which an individual faces in job is that one does not get the work which one wants resulting in one doing job half-heartedly which is not good for individual, as well as company and McClelland theory, removes this problem by identifying needs of employees first and then giving them job role according to their needs.
No Scope of any Excuse
Since employees are given work according to their needs there is no scope for any excuse because if the company is giving work profile to employees according to their interest than they cannot put the blame of failure on the company as they were given work of their choice. In simple words by giving people job profile according to their needs eliminates the scope of employees giving an excuse for not doing their work.
Satisfied Employees
If at restaurants you go for eating pizza but you do not get to eat pizza instead you have to eat a burger than you will not be satisfied, similarly in case of companies if employees do not get the desired job profile then it will result in unsatisfied employees. In simple words companies adopting McClelland Theory in the organization ensure that the company has satisfied employees which in the long run can prove to be a great asset to the company.
Disadvantages of McClelland Theory
Does not take into account the Basic Needs
The biggest disadvantage of this theory is that this theory focuses on needs for achievement, power, and affiliation but ignore basic needs like food, shelter and safety which is primary needs and needs to be satisfied first before thinking about satisfying other needs.
One Gets Stereotype
If one employee falls under the need for achievement matrix than chances are that he or she will get stereotyped and may never work in that department where the need for power or need for affiliation is required even if the employee has required qualification for the particular job. In simple words, one cannot move to other departments of the company not because he or she is not qualified rather due to being stereotyped.
Difficult to find Position Matching the Needs
Once a company has identified people needs but it may be possible that positions matching the needs of the employees in the company are more or less resulting in a problem for the top management of the company. Hence for example, if there are 10 positions in the company for people having a need for power but if the employees having a need for power are 20 than the company will find it difficult to accommodate all the employees.
As one can see from the above that McClelland theory of motivation has advantages as well as disadvantages and that is the reason why any company thinking of applying this theory into organization should carefully read above points and then take the decision.