In an ideal world, we’d love to provide the best working environment for our employees. 

Where they can work comfortably and happily grow their career. But eventually, you will be met with negative circumstances like poor behaviour and difficult workers.

It is vital that you show leadership here and have a solid work policy for addressing misbehaviour—and the consequences that follow.

 straight on. And monitor how their conduct and actions are affecting business productivity.

7 Questions to benchmark your employee communications success

If their behaviour does not change after your feedback, you may need to follow-through with proper disciplinary actions.

Addressing behavioural issues can be a complicated and sensitive process for employers. But it’s an unavoidable part of business. 

So, seek HR advice and address it right away.

Here are six steps on how you can manage difficult workers and unacceptable behaviour.

Ignoring a problem will only allow it to fester and grow. You cannot allow negative behaviour to continue once it’s brought to your attention.

If ignored, the situation could affect the morale and culture of your entire business. Other employees could imitate poor attitudes and approach others, and even clients, in the same insolent manner.

You should aim to nip the problem in the bud, by addressing the problem quickly and effectively.

How you interact with the employee in question is crucial. When addressing a difficult employee, take care not to make the discussion overly personal or emotional.

Remember that you are not trying to start a confrontation, but rather finding a solution for their behaviour.

Try to create a comfortable and professional environment where the worker feels able to speak about their position. Their poor attitude and actions could derive from personal problems, workplace misunderstandings, or even from acting out of fear or confusion.

Your principal aim is to display that you care for them, but also need to reach a resolution.

It’s essential that you keep open channels of communication with all employees, especially difficult ones. To fully understand where the negative attitude stems from, listen to them and acknowledge their opinions.

Sometimes the simple act of listening can really help employees feel comfortable enough to open up about their behaviour.

Sometimes an employer must relay tough feedback to difficult employees. It’s not always accepted, and it sure isn’t easy to do.

But it’s vital that you show clear examples of their misbehaviour. Display how their actions are violating your behavioural work policy. Explain that it is unacceptable and needs to stop, or consequences will follow.

Once you’ve highlighted specific examples of their misconduct, the employee should recognize and work to solve their issues.

It’s recommended that you also discuss the situation with your HR department. They can offer advice and guidance on how to deal with the situation professionally.

They may advise you to document the incident in misconduct reports—which can stand as evidence should the situation be raised as a future tribunal claim.

Once you have determined the problem, discuss what support the employee needs from you to help improve their behaviour.

Remind the employees that part of their work performance is measured by how they contribute to business success. So, any ideas on personal improvement should be realistic, helpful, and objective.

You can introduce employee assistance programmes, behavioural workshops, and performance coaching to further support improvement.

After you have held discussions with the employee, implement a clear plan of action for 

Create a plan with measurable goals for improving their behaviour and monitor performance. You should:

Set a clear timeframe for completing targets and outline what the employee needs from you to help them improve.

Specify consequences for violating behaviour policies. (Like formal warnings, losing bonuses/promotions, even contract termination).

Allow the employee a reasonable amount of time to correct their behaviour. Monitor their progress and note any issues or relapses.

Once they have passed the timeframe for their plan, schedule an evaluation meeting with them to discuss their progression.

A difficult employee can create a hostile and draining atmosphere in the workplace. As a manager, owner, or HR leader, you should approach the individual in the most effective and appropriate manner.

Always seek HR advice on how to deal with negative workplace behaviour effectively. 

They can help determine when and what type of corrective actions you should take. Whether it’s a transfer, demotion, or even contract termination.

Of course, these are last-resort measures for dealing with difficult workers. The underlying goal for you is to work through misbehaviour incidents and reach a resolution—that appeases you, the employee, and the business.

Communicating with difficult workers – and how to deal with them

In the wake of the racial disparities faced by Black people, there has been a beautiful demonstration of organizational and individual allyship as we all work to end racism.

While this gives hope for an equitable future, this solidarity, compassion, understanding, and collaboration must continue for years to come for us to achieve a truly just society.

Contrary to the conclusions of the recent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report, race is still a factor in the way people experience life in the UK in all aspects of society; in education, in healthcare; in the justice system, and in the workplace. 

This might be due to a myriad of factors including indirect or covert racism, unconscious or conscious biases. 

But there needs to be a genuine and thorough review to uncover these barriers to inclusion, together with dedicated action to eradicate racism in all its forms. 

While there has been progress made in the UK in the past few decades, we are still a long way from true equality and figures show that Black people are being impacted negatively.

The key to an inclusive culture for all employees: Inclusive communications

According to the recent MBRRACE-UK report, Black women are still four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK, but there is currently no urgent review or urgent action being taken to irradicate these disparities.

In the workplace, the Resolution Foundation found that there was an estimated £3.2 billion UK pay gap between people of color and white people. Again there seems to be a reluctance to address this compounded by the delay in mandating the ethnicity pay gap reporting

BITC Race at the Top revisited report, has noted that there are only 1.5% of Black people in senior roles within organizations, despite there being 69% of Black 16 to 64 year-olds in employment as stated in the UK Employment report on gov.uk published earlier this year.

There are plenty more figures that show a difference of experience and the barriers faced for black people as well as the multiple examples of anecdotal lived experience in the UK Black communities.

This is a multi-faceted and difficult issue that needs sustained focus with tangible action from organizations and everyone in the UK society to make big strides to be a fairer experience for all.

We must not lose the momentum we have garnered over the past year and we must continue to push for true equality for everyone.

This is why Black Leaders will facilitate a national annual Black Inclusion Week across the UK during the week of May 10th –  May 16th, 2021. Throughout the week you can engage in the debate about why it is important to continue the conversation around Black inclusion as well as hear from those that are leading at the forefront as we delve into the Black experience from various cultural aspects. 

The week is filled with dynamic events and activities, which aim to:

Be a celebration of Black people in the UK

Black Inclusion Week is an observance event that raises awareness of the importance of Black inclusion and creates a platform for change to enable true equality for people of African and Caribbean descent. 

This is an inclusive event for organizations, communities, educational institutions, and individuals of all ethnicities to take part.

It is important that we continue to have the conversation around Black Inclusion for years to come on this ever-evolving journey we are taking as a society and ensure we deliver the changes that will make a difference.

You can find out more about Black Inclusion Week 

Why it is important to continue the conversation around Black Inclusion

 in the New Yorker, which looked at the history of reports in the US on race riots, spanning over a century. 

Almost all of these reports asked the same questions, found the same answers, and made the same recommendations. It’s worth quoting from Lepore’s article in depth:

“In a 1977 study, “Commission Politics: The Processing of Racial Crisis in America,” Michael Lipsky and David J. Olson reported that, between 1917 and 1943, at least twenty-one commissions were appointed to investigate race riots, and, however sincerely their members might have been interested in structural change, none of the commissions led to any. 

The Changed Workplace 2021: What employees want and what leaders and communicators need to do about it

"The point of a race-riot commission, Lipsky and Olson argue, is for the government that appoints it to appear to be doing something, while actually doing nothing.”

. The many reviews (for example, the McGregor-Smith report) on treatment of underrepresented groups here in the UK have also made recommendations, many of which have not been implemented. Some have been implemented, so it’s good to see some progress.

And yes, of course, there’s been so much progress over the last century. Women can vote and be financially independent of men. Marriage is now legal for everyone in the four nations of the UK. 

These are real wins, but when you realise that there is still a gender pay gap (which 

), an ethnicity pay gap, a disability pay gap… you realize that we are measuring progress against a system that is, by its very nature, unequal. 

Therefore, unless that system itself changes, we simply can’t fix it once and for all. Something else will always come up. Just look at the year we’ve been through, which has made it just that little bit harder to turn a blind eye to our society’s glaring inequalities. 

Of course, there are those who have no problem turning a blind eye: there will always be people and governments which continue the legacy described by Lepore of being more interested in 

In my work, I look for ways that organisations can change their cultural fabric in order to start replacing the old system with something that works better for everyone. In fact, the act of changing your culture in this way is how I would define inclusive leadership:

Inclusive leadership focuses on making the invisible* structures of systemic inequality visible – and then changing them. 

(*invisible to those whom they privilege)

It’s practical, hands-on change, and it benefits everyone.

One example of something you can do to change the fabric of your culture and make it more inclusive is to really re-think the definition of “success.” Success is and has traditionally been aligned with a certain kind of trajectory – one that is focused on being promoted upwards through a hierarchy, making it to the top, in a steady flow. 

But this linear progression doesn’t suit everyone nor is it to everyone’s taste; but if there’s only one route to attaining this idea of success, people don’t have much choice.

So start at the top and redefine success: one thing you could do would be to allow for (in fact, encourage!) career breaks for 

Another good way in which to redefine success is to move away from the equation that full-time = successful; in other words, work to destigmatize part-time and flexible working for everyone.

I always encourage people to implement quick wins when it comes to inclusion, but not at the expense of the bigger picture. Training is a good example. I think training individuals is important, but not if it’s just sheep-dipping – and the only way to ensure that it’s not sheep-dipping is to plug it into a bigger picture. 

Like every other kind of initiative, inclusion has to be embedded in the fabric of the culture or it won’t stick – I can take a course on learning to speak Arabic or on how to be an electrician, but if it’s not part of my everyday life, it’s unlikely that I’ll retain those skills. 

So train your people by all means. But make sure that when they come into the workplace (whether that’s physical or virtual), they can put those skills to use.

There was a great example of ensuring training contributes to challenging systemic inequality given in the 

. In a case study looking at the NHS, they noted that data was collected, analysed and published regarding the likelihood of underrepresented groups accessed non-mandatory training, “including that which is designed to improve their career opportunities.”

And ultimately, this is the best tool I can offer you: if you always keep your eye on the big picture (aka the strategic narrative) – on the 5 year plan, the 10 year plan – when you devise your inclusion initiatives, then that will help you to focus in on the right ideas to create strategic cultural change that will have a lasting impact and legacy.

Why you've got to embed Inclusion into the fabric of your company's culture

In an era of remote working, there’s a perception that influencing senior leaders has become more difficult than ever. But is that really true?  

And what are the golden rules to getting decisions made and buy-in established when we’re all working remotely?

Let’s imagine going back just a year ago, and IF you were co-located with the senior leaders you worked for and with I can make a guess that they weren’t sitting around waiting for you to pop by their desk with a calendar fully available to you when 

The changed workplace 2021: How employees feel and what leaders and communicators need to do about it

Leaders are incredibly busy people no matter where they’re located.  Their time is precious.  They’ve got a million and one people vying for their time, attention, and signature.  The new Covid-world hasn’t changed any of that.

Locations don’t matter when it comes to influencing other people, relationships do.

Being able to influence another person begins with building and maintaining a strong relationship.

Assuming you already have the connection with the stakeholders you need to influence or gain buy-in from, your efforts need to be all about understanding them.

What are their challenges, their pressures, their goals?  What’s going on in their world?  What’s important to them both professionally and personally?

This year has enormously helped colleagues connect on a more personal level and leaders themselves have been much more open, vulnerable and forthcoming about their home lives, mental health, and family pressures too.  We are all human at the end of the day.

Leadership can be an incredibly lonely place, so having colleagues who understand and care for them as human beings will go a long way to establishing mutual respect and a solid relationship.

 means ‘the way in which two or more people or things are connected’, so how can you strengthen the connections between the two of you?

This means stepping back from influencing or pushing your agenda and brainstorming how you can get to know each other properly and work effectively together.

It’s in both of your interests to build trust and mutual understanding, not just yours, so do this together so you can work efficiently and effectively in partnership going forwards.

The physical distance between colleagues needs never be an issue if you’re open and honest with your communications, working styles, and expectations of one another.

Then when it comes to influencing, making decisions,and getting sign-off it will happen with ease because you’re both aligned and invested in delivering what’s needed for the business and not caught up in unnecessary frustrations or misunderstandings.

A much-overlooked sub-skill of being able to influence effectively is the capacity to truly listen to what the other person is saying. 

What others say and how they say it leaves a trail of clues that give away their preferred communication and influencing styles. 

Notice what excites them and the language they use when this happens.  Are they data-driven, visionary, or people-centric, for example?  Mirror their natural style by providing them with what they need.

For example, people who are more practical, systematic, prefer facts, and trust experience over inspiring ideas will be more easily influenced by, you guessed, facts, data, details, and experience. 

Use this approach to influence them, building rapport and boosting your credibility at the same time.

If, on the other hand, you notice that your senior leader shares innovative ideas or talks of more abstract concepts, or they look for themes and patterns, they are likely more intuitive, tending to be quick decision-makers who trust their gut.

They’re going to love hearing stories, visionary concepts, and ideas, the longer-term impact, or being inspired by best-in-class examples.  Stay out of the weeds and details with these types of people though and speak with passion and energy to get them onboard.

Influencing aside, feeling truly listened to deepens the bond and respect between two people, so honor this time to make them feel heard.

Sometimes pushing your own agenda can wait!  Video calls can be your ally when it comes to deepening your listening skills because they allow the whole range of bodily communication to be transmitted for you to decipher - language, tone, energy, body language, facial expressions.

And not to get too distracted, but you can also see how your own subliminal signals come across on-screen too.  Are they conveying your openness, interest, and engagement while they talk?

All of these approaches will help ensure your relationship soon moves to a more aligned level where you will trust each other, know what’s going on and be able to communicate effectively.

Not being co-located with someone you need to influence is only a problem if you let it be.  It’s just a matter of building a relationship and an understanding between the two of you and learning what works for you both.

How to influence senior leaders when working remotely

Change is happening faster than ever and coupled with technological advancement, increased globalization and a competitive jobs market the HR department is finding itself in new territory. Naturally, all of this change brings its own challenges that can impact human resource management.

 and how it’s now playing a more active role in an organization’s strategy. This wider remit has also had a knock-on effect on the challenges this busy department faces. So what are these challenges?

The Ultimate Guide to Internal Communications Strategy

A global survey by the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations compiled a list of HR challenges, and the results make for interesting reading. Top of the list and cited by 48% of HR professionals was change management. 

 is the effective management of significant change, whether that’s introducing new business models, disruptive products that cannibalize older offerings, or new ways of working. So where does the HR team come into the equation?

In an examination of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Competency Model, Human Capital Institution discovered that the HR department has a significant role to play as a “

transformational leader for the organization by leading change

“. Meeting this lofty goal will require an intense focus on the training and development of HR professionals who will need to acquire the skills necessary to guide the organization through periods of change.

 (GWS) identifies a key role of HR as ensuring an organization has the right people performing well in leadership roles at all levels. But this isn’t as easy a task as it might sound; a good leader will possess many skills – typically a mixture of hard skills (strategic thinking for example) and so-called soft skills (emotional intelligence). In a 

, the ability to inspire and motivate others came top of the list of skills deemed most important for all management positions.

Leadership development within an organization is a vital part of the success of a business: it aids with staff retention in this hyper-competitive job market, maintaining a strong culture within the organization, and helps to identify a pipeline of leaders for future succession planning.

Arguably one of the more interesting results in the 

 is number three on the list: HR effectiveness measurement, which was cited by 27% of HR professionals globally.

As the role of HR has shifted, so too has its deliverables. Today’s HR department has more than just an administrative function. With this broadening remit comes the challenge of measuring its role of driving organizational effectiveness. According to the WFPMA, “the shift is significant as it represents the movement from simply counting the numbers hired to determining the ROI of collective and individual hires on a long-term basis.”

Despite its expanding remit within an organization, the HR department is still fundamentally responsible for managing human resources and all of the typical challenges that accompany that function, including recruitment, compensation, benefit costs, retention, health, and safety, ensuring compliance, and learning and development. Finding the balance between efficiently delivering core tasks and adding value to the organization can be one of the biggest challenges for any HR team.

HR teams are essential to the running of any successful organization and are at the front line of many key business functions, dealing with everything from seeking out potential candidates, to ensuring current employees have all their needs met. Some of the most important responsibilities of HR include:

There is little doubt that an organization’s number one asset is its employees. As part of their role, the HR department is tasked with sourcing and recruiting the best possible candidates to fill available positions. They work closely with hiring managers, who are also responsible for recruiting top-tier talent, to achieve this. HR provides leadership, training, interview expertise, and selection monitoring throughout the recruitment process. In addition, it is the responsibility of HR to ensure an organization develops and maintains a good reputation to make it an appealing option to potential recruits.

Possessing a positive workplace culture has numerous benefits for businesses from attracting talent to ensuring employee job satisfaction and engagement. HR is responsible for setting the standard of what this culture will be. This includes practices such as establishing office hours, defining dress codes, and allocating working spaces. Having a clear picture of their offices’ culture and what an average working day entails, allows employees to develop a sense of identity in their roles, and to gain an understanding of how their company is perceived from the outside.

 and capable of carrying out their roles effectively is another valuable role of HR and includes:

By researching and carrying out market analysis, HR teams are capable of identifying and setting competitive salaries for open positions. HR also focuses on the added components of these salaries such as insurance benefits, vacations, transportation, and education reimbursement. These are all extremely important factors when it comes to attracting talent and can ultimately determine whether or not the desired candidate will accept a job offer.

Unfortunately, there are times when difficult situations arise in the office that require the assistance of a third-party in order for a resolution to be reached. This is why it is critical that competent HR professionals are available when those in the office feel their work is being affected by such an issue and need a place to turn to. If HR departments carry out their duties effectively, they will use their expertise to provide advice and act as supporters and allies during challenging times for employees.

Any type of software available in an organization that aids in managing employee data or other HR-related tasks, can be recognized as HR software. The most common software utilized by HR departments are:

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)

Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS)

 As previously mentioned, it is the duty of HR to work alongside management, offering guidance and support. This includes HR managers aiding general managers in directing and overseeing their staff.

 – Each employee who goes through the recruitment process will develop different feelings toward the company looking to hire them. HR professionals must be adept at responding to candidates and keeping them updated throughout the process, to prevent them from having second thoughts about the job opportunity.

 HR is an extremely demanding role, with new problems arising every day that need solving. It is imperative that HR managers are capable of separating their office and home lives, in order to avoid becoming overwhelmed and stressed by their heavy workloads.

 As HR is often the first point of contact for employees who are dealing with a difficult work situation, it is vital the department shows compassion and empathy towards these individuals. In fact, not doing so could even lead to legal issues.

 – Having a good grasp of employment law is a necessity for successful HR managers. Without this knowledge, costly mistakes can be made when it comes to firing employees or making on-the-spot decisions.

 As HR is responsible for performing numerous and overlapping tasks at the same time, managers need to have the capability to switch back and forth between these tasks at any given moment.

 Although not required by law to keep information private, HR managers must be able to make the distinction between what information needs to be shared and which should be kept confidential.

 – A good HR manager knows that it is never appropriate to be blunt and insensitive when firing an employee. It is important to be legally compliant, sympathetic, and fair when it comes to this difficult undertaking.

The Importance of overcoming HR challenges

Without a strong and capable HR team in place, it is impossible for any organization to operate successfully. HR plays an integral role across

including recruiting and retaining talented staff, motivating workers, improving working conditions, and handling employee concerns and needs. The role of HR professionals is multi-faceted, making them highly skilled individuals, who can be considered one of the most important functions in any organization.

However, in today’s world, HR professionals are facing many new challenges, including an increasingly competitive jobs market, advancements in technology, globalization, and health and safety concerns. Organizations must dedicate time, effort, and resources to determining what key HR challenges they are facing and the best strategies that can be utilized to overcome them. By doing so, companies will combat a host of potential problems, and benefit from all that an efficient and successful HR department has to offer.

The new challenges of human resource management

A HR management team is responsible for many important aspects of employee satisfaction including staff training, working environment, and employee relations. It’s a multi-faceted role, made all the more difficult by the fact that today’s worker moves jobs more regularly than previous generations: as many as 

51% of employees are actively searching for a new job opening

, and 35% of workers have switched companies within the last three years.

In this environment, the HR management team has a significant role to play in strengthening 

 and ensuring that workers feel fulfilled and appreciated in their roles.

 is carried out in an effective manner and employee satisfaction is given adequate attention, it will help to bridge the gap between employee performances and the organization’s strategic objectives. This means an efficient HR management team should be capable of aiding company turnover and giving businesses an edge over their competition.

Recruitment is one of the most important components of HR Management and covers everything from the identification of a staffing need to the filling of it. Depending on the size of a business, recruitment responsibilities will fall on various individuals. If a senior or specialized position is being filled, the HR department may have specialist HR recruiters dedicated to sourcing prospective employees with the right skill set.

Other organizations will use only a single recruiter, while in small outfits the hiring manager is often responsible for recruiting. HR managers most commonly reach out to prospective recruits via advertisements, job boards, and social media sites.

An employee’s first impression of an organization has a significant impact on their integration within the team and how well equipped they are to carry out their new role successfully. If the induction process is not carried out effectively by HR management it will impact revenue, absenteeism, and employer brand.

Some essential topics for HR management to cover during

 and its role in the workplace should be of major importance to HR management. This is what is used to measure the sort of devotion that employees have to their job or position, as well as towards co-workers and company culture.

HR serves as the main facilitator of employee engagement due to its role as a mediator between workers, managers, and executive leadership. Strong employee engagement is vital as:

Companies with engaged employees tend to have higher profitability rates.

Engaged employees who perform at a higher level have a more natural interest in their job.

The engaged worker is more likely to pay attention to company communications, including safety notices.

Organizations with engaged employees experience 

, which can have a substantial impact on a company’s bottom line.

Staff development can be termed in a number of different ways including ‘Training & Development’, or ‘Learning & Development’. However, at its core is the notion that companies, in order to remain competitive, need to equip their employees with ongoing education. Ensuring that this happens is another role of HR management and includes:

 Introducing new employees to their jobs and providing the necessary training and guidance.

: Assessing individual and team skill gaps and performance issues to provide timely feedback and develop a plan to remediate concerns.

 Even when employees have the skills to perform well, the company may not remain competitive if employees don't receive ongoing training to expand their skills.

: Career development is useful in helping employees plan a career path so they can fill future job openings with the company.

 If organizational processes are enhanced, the company will operate more efficiently, improve quality, and reduce costs.

Duties and responsibilities of a HR Manager

 to recognize that employees are complex individuals that possess varying needs, wants, and desires within the workplace. Good individual and collective staff relations between workers and their employers will raise levels of employee engagement, which in turn, will result in increased employee performance and company competitiveness.

To that end, the HR manager is there as a liaison between the organization and employees to make sure that employees are kept well-informed of relevant knowledge and that they are represented by the HR team in any decisions that may impact them.

The HR manager is also tasked with ensuring the business is complying with employment legislation. From offering positive working conditions to guaranteeing fair work practices, the HR team is responsible for keeping a company in line with workplace laws. This is a role that can change often as legislation can be tweaked sporadically if new cases or scenarios come to light.

 is a further responsibility of the HR manager and comprises:

Ensuring the organization complies with all health and safety legislation.

Confirming employee safety training is kept up to date and that workplace safety records are maintained.

Protecting all other individuals within the premises including customers and visitors.

Establishing control measures to store explosive/flammable/dangerous substances.

When dealing with compensation and benefits, the HR manager is tasked with devising compensation strategies, performance management systems, and compensation structures, as well as negotiating pay and benefits packages with potential employees.

Overall, it is clear that HR management plays a significant role in the continued success of organizations. Not only does it have an important role in the training and development of employees but it is also responsible for other essential components including monitoring job performance, offering appropriate compensation, and managing labor relations.

Therefore, to stay ahead of competitors, maintain low employee retention and continue to increase turnover, it is vital for businesses to have a capable HR management team in place who understands the importance and significance of employee satisfaction and fulfillment.

HR Management Responsibilities

There are many motivation theories in management, all focused on offering insight into what motivates or drives a person in the workplace. Motivating staff is a critical factor in the success of any business. But people are fundamentally different, and not everyone responds in the same way to a particular situation or environment. It's important for organizations to not only understand the different characteristics of their employees but also to know what drives these particular personalities. Armed with this information, organizations can tailor the way they motivate or encourage staff, and dramatically improve engagement and motivation levels in the workplace.

So what are the main theories of work motivation? We've selected three high-profile theories that offer an interesting take on what motivates different individuals: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, McClelland's Three Needs Theory, and Herzberg's Motivation Theory.

One of the often-cited theories of work motivation is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory. This motivational theory, developed by Abraham H Maslow, says that humans have a hierarchy of needs and they work their way up through these needs. As each need is satisfied, they move on to the next.

Five needs in Maslow's theory of work motivation

 the lowest need is for the fundamental basics – food, clothing, and shelter. These needs closely correlate to a person's salary.

: the need to feel safe. In the workplace, this could translate to a feeling of job security and even simply needing to be in a safe work environment.

: the need to belong in a group. Humans are a social animal, they will seek to form groups and want to feel like a valued member of that group.

: to achieve recognition or status. Individuals will look to feed their ego or boost their self-esteem by being successful in their job.

: once an individual has ticked all the other needs off, they will move into a stage where they become more creative or growth-oriented.

David McClelland's motivation theory of management suggests that each person has three basic needs: the need for power, achievement, or affiliation. In this employee motivation theory, McClelland says that a person's particular need will have a significant impact on their behavior.

 this person is motivated by having a position of power or control. They are typically strong leaders and are self-disciplined.

 this person is motivated by success or achieving objectives. They thrive on challenging situations and typically set themselves hard to reach goals and work to excel at them.

: this person is at home in a group or collaborative environment. They work well with others and seek out social interactions.

Herzberg's Motivation Theory, which is also known as Two-Factor or Hygiene Theory, is another one of the more renowned employee motivation theories. It suggests that individuals have two categories of needs when it comes to work – Hygiene and Motivators. Hygiene refers to a person's work environment, including working conditions, wages, workplace relations while Motivators are the factors that motivate people to work harder – job recognition, promotion, achievement.

Herzberg suggests that if people are not happy at work it comes down to the work environment, and when they are happy at work it's because they feel fulfilled or motivated.

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