NEEDS AND NEED SATISFACTION AMONG CLERICAL WORKERS IN COMPLEX AND ROUTINE JOBS

Summary Reliable measurement of needs and need satisfaction on Maslow's hierarchy is possible. Clerical employees (mainly female) indicated a high need for self-actualization and autonomy. In this respect they are similar to lower level managers described by Porter (1962) and women described by Jurgensen (1949). There was no substantial difference in need satisfaction patterns between clerical employees in routine jobs and those in more complex clerical jobs. Similarly, no difference was found in the motivation of these two groups. It was concluded that jobs which appear to management as higher in responsibility and complexity, and which are commonly viewed as promotions, may not always provide additional satisfactions in self-actualization, autonomy, or esteem. This study focused on the importance of defining accurately what constitutes job enlargement. An increase in variety and responsibility does not necessarily result in increasing higher order need satisfaction or motivation. How much job enlargement makes a difference in these variables is still open to question and must be the subject of further investigation.