Document RjNBb60BazrN5e0EZwQL058EE

HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND INDUSTRIAL SAFETY an individual might delay his lunch thirty minutes so that he can join several fnends and have lunch with them Thus, he com bines the satisfaction of his need to belong and to eat In another case, an employee could desire recognition from his fellow-workers and so might engage in practical jokes At the same time, he may be seeking recognition from his foreman by working hard on the safety committee The need is the same but the means of satisfaction are in direct conflict This is multiple motivation It would be to the safety director's advantage, m the second case, to recognize what the need is which the worker is trymg to satisfy, and find ways to channel the behavior so he can achieve recognition from fellow em ployees and the foreman. Caution must be emphasized repeatedly in approaching this problem of behavior analysis Although challenging, it cannot be avoided if success ful programs are to be worked out Hierarchical motivation means simply that some needs take a higher pnonty-- there is a hierarchy of motivational factors It has been pointed out that the psychoso cial needs take precedence over the biologi cal ones when the latter are relatively well satisfied This is but one aspect of the hierarchy of needs concept The safety man who plans carefully and takes each detail of his program to his boss for approval may be exhibiting an over whelming desire for achievement and recog nition, a desire much stronger than his need for affection This is true particularly if he forgets his human relations skills m deal ing with workers He may be so impressed with his own personal achievements, and perhaps the recognition given for them, that he forces plans upon workers which they would not accept from free choice Another example is the worker who con siders recognition as the major need that he must satisfy This mdividual perhaps would go all out to become a strong mili tant leader of the union if he were to lose a promotion in the company The safety director may himself be m conflict with this individual who may not care about the safety director's disapproval and instead values the affection and recognition of his fellow workers This hierarchy changes over the years What is desired more early m life may assume less importance later The need for achievement and recognition perhaps is greatest m youth, thus giving a drive to ward accomplishment Later in life, per haps, the warm affection of fnends or the security of belonging to groups may assume major importance if one has already had recognition for ]>ast work Conflicting mottoes constitute another major problem in motivation--needs them selves can be in conflict with one another Seeking affection could lead to behavior which might be different with fellow work ers than with supervisors It may be neces sary to determine which source of affection is the more important before they do any thing People can internalize these problems to such a degree that there is resultant physi cal stress, worry, anxious periods, and even behavior completely inconsistent with that expected of them normally For example, a young man who is assistant safety direc tor m a given company may strongly desire to become the safety director and yet at the same time be fearful of the duties, the re sponsibilities, and obligations of the job The promotion would mean more prestige, more money--in all, a better way of life Here then is a serious conflict The young man's answer will depend greatly on his background experiences One of the things he might do would be to quit his job and seek employment elsewhere He might, on the other hand, seek training to better qualify for the position These are but two of the many choices available The same applies to the worker on the line He may strongly desire the approval of his supervisor and at the same fame de sire to remain an accepted member of his work group If the work group makes fun of or minimizes the importance of the safe ty program, this worker now is m conflict He may follow the group or he may seek the approval of the management He may do one or the other, or he may do some thing entirely inconsistent with either Some conflicts can he solved rather sim ply, for the alternatives lead to positive need satisfactions regardless of which way the individual goes These are really no problem Others may have at one pole a positive satisfaction and at the other a nega tive or unwanted result This is no problem either for the obvious choice is the one 5-12