INTRODUCTION

•  Clayton Alderfer derived the ERG theory, which is an extension of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.¹
  
• Alderfer classified the needs into the categories: Existence, relatedness, and growth.² 
• Alderfer proposed that when a certain category of needs isn't being met, people will redouble their efforts to fulfil needs in a lower category.³
•  Aiming to satisfy personal wants, motivation is the act of initiating and maintaining goal-directed behavior.⁴
• Being able to motivate staff members and understanding why is a crucial managerial ability.
• The ERG theory does not suggest a hierarchy.⁵
  

Key Concepts

• Motivation does not remain static.
• Motivation is dependent on many continually changing factors.
• The needs aren’t in any order and any desire to fulfill, a need can be activated at any point in time.
• The lower level needs not requiring to be satisfied in order to satisfy a higher level needs.
• Existence, related to person’s physical needs such as food, clothing and shelter.
• Relatedness, relates to a person’s interpersonal needs within his personal as well as professional settings.
• Growth relates to a person’s needs of personal development

Alderfer's existence, growth and relatedness (ERG) theory proposes three core human needs in organisational settings:
1.    existence (the desire for material things),
2.    relatedness (the desire for cordial interpersonal relations) and
3.    growth (the desire for opportunities to be creative and to develop one’s skills).⁶

Conclusion

ERG theoretical framework has been used in investigating job satisfaction and employee motivation in various settings.⁷

References

1. Alderfer CP. Theories Reflecting My Personal Experience and Life Development. J Appl Behav Sci. 1989 Nov 1;25(4):351–65.
2. Alderfer CP. An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organ Behav Hum Perform. 1969 May 1;4(2):142–75.
3. Alderfer C. P. Existence, relatedness and growth. New York: Free pres; 1972.
4. Barikani A, Javadi M, Mohammad A, Firooze B, Shahnazi M. Satisfaction and Motivation of General Physicians toward Their Career. Glob J Health Sci. 2013 Jan;5(1):166–73.
5. El-Desoky R, Cruz ADL, Thornton JD, Wanat MA, Varkey D. Identifying predictors of generalized anxiety among student pharmacists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2023 Jan;15(1):34.
6. Li H, Yuan B, Wang D, Meng Q. Motivating factors on performance of primary care workers in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open. 2019 Nov 21;9(11):e028619.
7. Yang Y, Ling Q. The influence of existence–relatedness–growth need satisfaction and job burnout of young university teachers: the mediating role of job satisfaction. Front Psychol. 2023 Aug 3;14:1205742.