Back to Basics “Let’s Start from first level of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy “

In the battle between the value of human life and the global economy, the value of human life won. Countries whether developed, Developing or under developed announced complete lockdown only allowing essential services to continue with their supply chain.

Countries all across the world are investing in the defence to safeguard they from their counterpart but nobody has thought that an invisible enemy who is so small in size can be so dangerous. This is no the first time that this find of Pandemic happened but the surprising fact is even though after so advancement whether in terms of technology, medical facilities, Technology we are still struggling with COVID -19. There are many lesson  which COVID-19 taught us but most important one is Inclusion.

 Inclusion is a lesson we could learn from Corona. It did not see any difference in people, it treated everyone fair and square. It also drove collaboration between people, teams, and countries.

COVID-19 has made the work of HR Professionals Challenging. The biggest challenge that Human Resources professionals are likely to face is getting all employees back into office post this COVID crisis. A simple question raised in a social media platform on the expected percentage of employees who would come back to work on Day1 of resumption clearly showcases that more that 99% of respondents state that it would be less than 50% due to several reasons. 

 The HR Professionals  has to build trust amongst employees and make them feel safe getting back to work place coupled with job security questions that employees may hold. It is important for HR to get back to basics and work specifically on the physiological, safety, core and belonging needs, that are in the bottom of the pyramid in Maslow’s theory of needs.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed the theory of ‘hierarchy of human needs’, popularly known as the Maslow’s Pyramid. In essence, Maslow promulgated that humans have an ascending hierarchy of needs, each one of which has to be fulfilled, before the need on the next level of the pyramid is sought.

At the base of the pyramid are the ‘Basic Physiological’ needs like air, food, shelter, Love needs etc  (Roti, Kapada aur makan), which are essential for sheer survival and procreation. The next level is of ‘Safety’, which ranges from the need of a child to feel physically safe, to the need of an adult to have job security or economic safety in the form of savings, insurance etc. After safety, comes the need for ‘Social Belonging’ as part of a group. Our sense of identity, whether is it is belonging to a community, a school, a class, club, friends circle or a cohort at work, all stem from this need to belong. The fourth level of need is ‘Self Esteem’ which Maslow describes as the need to feel valued and respected both externally and internally. At the external level, this could be in the form of recognition by peers, awards and material achievements. At the internal level, this need manifests in the form of inner resilience, self-confidence and mastery over oneself.

This is time that an organisation should start from the basics, focus on the Physiological, safety and Belongingness needs of their Employees. Leaders need to motivate the team along with educating/ Skilling them about their health and safety needs and stand by the team and create avenues to help them on and off -ground as they will fight this crisis together. Also Cutting off ambiguity is need to be done. Performance Management, Increments, Promotions related decisions have to be communicated upfront with justifications to cut off any ambiguity that could arise out of it. Process and Policy changes should be communicated clearly for employees’ consumption.

 We the HR professionals has a lot of work do before returning to the Moving normal. So, let’s Start from Basics.