Leadership

Acquired Needs Theory

Bruna Martins

BU 521 Organizational Leadership

Instructor: Dr. Michelle L. Clemons

April 2019

Acquired Needs Theory

The acquired needs theory presents that individuals acquire specific needs over time and an individual’s life experiences shape these needs. Grounded on this theory, individuals have three motivational needs including achievement, power, and affiliation. Every individual has an ambition for achievement, power, or affiliation and each individual is driven by one of these needs. These three needs influence an individual’s motivation and effectiveness in job functions. Therefore, understanding what motivates each of the employees is important for a leader to motivate the employees.

One of the needs in this acquired needs theory is the need for achievement. It entails the desire of an individual for considerable achievements, skill mastery, control, or high standards (Lussier & Achua, 2015). Employees having a high need for achievement do not seek power or approval but rather success. Such employees avoid low-risk activities since they are easy to accomplish and thus cannot measure success and void high-risk activities for fear of failure or success may be attributed to luck and not actual effort (Arnolds & Boshoff, 2003). Employees with a high need for achievement value success as a result of the effort level they exert. They also value feedback as they progress.

Therefore, a leader can motivate these employees by giving them nonroutine and challenging tasks having cleat and attainable objectives. This is because, employees with a high need for achievement prefer challenging tasks as such tasks stretch their abilities and measure their success (Wu, Matthews, & Dagher, 2007). However, as much as the tasks assigned to these employees are challenging, the leader should ensure that these tasks are of moderate difficulty since such tasks have a moderate success probability and the success outcomes are due to their effort and not luck. As well, a leader need not give such employees immediate and frequent on their performance since high achievers want rapid feedback to measure whether they are improving or not (Wu et al., 2007). As well, a leader needs to give high achievers increased responsibility to do new things since such employees seek personal responsibility in finding solutions to problems.

Another need in the acquired needs theory is power. Employees with a need for power are authority motivated. They are driven by the needs to control others, be influential, effective and make an impact (Lussier & Achua, 2015). Such employees have a strong need to lead and for their ideas and contributions to prevail. The employees need either personal or institutional power. Those needing personal power wants to control and direct others, and this is undesirable, and those needing institutional power wants to organize others’ efforts to achieve organizational goals, and this is desirable (Aworemi, Abdul-Azeez & Durowoju, 2011). Those with a high need for power do not seek recognition or approval but rather agreement and compliance.

A leader can leverage the potential of those employees needing power to positively support team goals and help others in the team feel competent. Motivating employees with a high need for power necessitates a leader to let such employees plan and control their job functions as much as possible since they drive their motivation from being in charge (Arnolds & Boshoff, 2003). As well, a leader should include such employees in decision-making, in particular, if the decisions affect them since power-driven employees desired to be influential and make an impact. As well, since power-drive individual prefers to work alone rather than in a team, a leader can place such employee into competitive and status-oriented tasks. Additionally, for those employees that need institutional power, a leader can assign such employees to leadership positions in teams since they are effective in organizing the efforts of others in a team to achieve a common goal (Aworemi et al., 2011).

The last need in the acquired need theory is the need for affiliation. Individual with a high need for affiliation drive motivation from friendly and close interpersonal relationships (Lussier & Achua, 2015). Such individuals strive for harmonious relationships with others and need to feel accepted by others. They are not inclined to competitive situations but rather cooperative situations. They desire relationships which encompass high mutual understanding degree. They prefer work which offers significant personal interactions, and thus they are good at working in teams (Chapman & Schwartz, 2010). They seek approval rather than recognition.

Motivating employees with a high need for affiliation would necessitate a leader to assign or let such employees to work as part of a team. Having a strong bond with others makes affiliation-driven employees feel they belong somewhere and get a sense of being part of something and this gives them motivation (Chapman & Schwartz, 2010). Besides, such employees are supportive team members. The tasks that these employees do are not drivers of their satisfaction. These individuals get satisfaction from working with other people. As well, a leader needs to give the affiliation-driven employees lots of praises since such employees prefer approval (Chapman & Schwartz, 2010).

In conclusion, a leader can utilize the acquired needs theory to motivate the employees. First, a leader needs to understand the needs of the employees. This enables a leader to identify employees who are either motivated by achievement, power, or affiliation. For the achievement-driven employees, a leader needs to assign such employees moderate difficulty task since these employees drive motivation from carrying out challenging but attainable tasks. For the power-driven employees, a leader needs to let such employees plan and control their job functions and participate in decision-making. For the affiliation-driven employees, a leader needs to let such employees work as part of a team.

References