Motivational Need Hierarchy of Employees in Public and Private Commercial Banks

This study presents a theoretical-empirical reflection about concepts, models, and practices of Maslow’s Model of Need-Hierarchy in public and private commercial banks in Bangladesh. The empirical part of this study, comprising 130 samples, has been collected through a structured questionnaire. The study reveals that employees of commercial banks have high use of lower level needs and moderate use of upper level needs. The study also reveals employees of private commercial banks have a slightly higher motivational score of each level of Maslow’s model, but these motivational differences are significant for safety needs and insignificant for basic, social, esteem and need for self-actualization at the five percent level of significance on a one way ANOVA test. On the basis of these findings, the study concludes that the employees of public and private banks follow Maslow’s motivational model without any difference. Maslow’s model holds across cultures, but its applicability, in some cases, will be culture-specific; it requires unique managerial attention to cultivating and sustaining well-motivated employees in different companies in different countries around the world.