Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Business Transformation
1 April 2025
Organisations evolve, and business transformation is vital as we move into an era of rising business costs and digitalisation. Humanising the change and transformation process - understanding the impact it has on employees is critical in ensuring you retain top talent. Keep employee engagement and motivation high by applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to your transformation strategy. Read the first blog in this series to discover how to create a human-centric approach to transformation.
What is Business Transformation?
Business transformation isn’t anything new. We must adapt and evolve whenever technology, the economy, or working practices change. The main reasons for embarking on transformation are that the result will improve organisational performance, cut costs, boost revenue, and deliver better customer and employee satisfaction.
The business environment is dynamic: new generations enter the workforce, new employee rights laws emerge, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) become the core of organisational values along with a culture of wellbeing and CSR goals.
Following on from our hugely popular blog, ‘How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs can transform your employee engagement strategy,’ we’re exploring the role Maslow’s theory plays in creating a people-focused approach to change. Meet employees’ psychological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation needs during business transformation, and see the best results for all.
Five Examples of Business Transformation
There are many reasons an organisation may undertake transformation, and five common examples are below.
1. Cultural Transformation
Workplace culture is a hot topic, and our blog, ‘Transform Your Workplace Culture: A Practical Guide to Change’, will help you through your cultural makeover. Your workplace culture can help you attract top talent and boost employee retention, resulting in a better experience and improved satisfaction.
2. Management Transformation
Poor managers are among the most common reasons many employees leave a business. Some employees are promoted to managerial roles because they excel at their jobs, but skipping people management training can cost you your best talent. Management transformation programmes can ensure the right people are in leadership roles and upskill them to help them better fulfil their duties.
3. Efficiency Gains
Businesses make efficiency gains in several ways. With the rise of employers' NIC to 15% from April 2025, many companies are making headlines due to significantly reducing their headcount. From an employee perspective, this is the business transformation example that would most negatively impact your workforce.
4. Digital Transformation
AI is always in the news these days. While some embrace the ‘future’, others are apprehensive, especially when talk turns to AI taking jobs that people currently fill. How businesses approach AI varies, but all employers must embrace digitalisation to keep up with the competition.
5. Mergers and Acquisitions
Many businesses grow or enter new markets by merging with or acquiring new businesses. Mergers and acquisitions are complex, bringing together two different organisations, technological infrastructures, cultures and ways of working into one body. It’s a time of massive change and can lead to uncertainty where there may be duplicate job roles.
Understanding Maslow’s Hierarchy: A Foundation for Change
Referring to the five examples of business transformation above, we’ll explore the elements of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how transformation can affect them.
Physiological Needs: Ensuring Stability in Transition
Physiological needs represent our most basic needs of sleep, shelter and warmth. An employee may believe that efficiency gains, digital transformation, and mergers or acquisitions could threaten their role due to potential redundancies. It’s vital to understand that the fear of being unable to meet the physiological needs of themselves or their families will be on employees’ minds during this time, and to plan effective communications to alleviate them.
Safety Needs: Building Trust and Security
Safety needs refer to stability, security and protection from physical harm. Once again, efficiency goals, digital transformation, and mergers or acquisitions are business changes that may leave your employees’ need for safety unmet. When employees feel their role is at risk, it will negatively affect morale, engagement, and wellbeing.
Building trust and nurturing honest and open relationships during business change is vital for creating a safe and secure environment.
Love and Belonging: Fostering Team Cohesion
Employees want to work for an organisation that aligns with their values, where they feel a sense of pride and belonging - that they’re valued and appreciated for who they are. Keep this in mind when undergoing a cultural change. Don’t make cultural changes for the sake of ticking a box. Ensure you live and breathe the values - be authentic and listen to your employees’ opinions before embarking on significant changes. Employee buy-in is vital for a culture to evolve successfully.
Esteem Needs: Recognising and Valuing Contributions
Business transformation is a big job, pulling in expertise from different areas of the business. When leaders work on multiple projects, the day-to-day activities or acknowledgements may move down the to-do list. Please make sure recognising employees’ contributions isn’t one of those things.
Keep motivation and employee engagement high by putting reward and recognition at the top of the agenda. Remember what we’ve discussed above in the physiological and safety sections - that some employees may fear for the stability of their roles. Consistently recognising and valuing their contributions will help boost their sense of self-worth.
Self-Actualisation: Empowering Growth and Innovation
Keep in mind that we can’t reach the self-actualisation peak of the Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid if the other needs aren’t satisfied. Remove just one element, and the pyramid will tumble.
Get it right, and you can use periods of business transformation to empower growth and innovation. Efficiencies, mergers and management transformation may open the door for employees to accept new roles and responsibilities, benefiting your business.
Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Business Transformation: Why it Matters
Another way of broaching this section would be to ask, What happens when these needs aren’t met during business change and transformation?
Throughout all the examples explored above, the underlying theme is people - their psychology - how they think and feel. More importantly, how their thoughts and feelings affect their actions.
When people feel insecure in their roles - that the business doesn’t have their best intentions at heart - they will look for a new role. Whether their worries are valid or not, it’s what they feel and the narrative they believe that matters.
When their roles are at risk, some employees may wait to see how the process plays out, whereas others will take the initiative to find something new.
Not focusing on people or putting Maslow’s theory at the core of your business transformation strategy could lead to higher employee turnover, poor motivation, engagement and productivity. You could also damage employee sentiment, which can take years to recover from.
Practical Applications: Strategies for Human-Centric Transformation
Business transformation may save money or boost revenue in the long term, but unless you’re human-centric in your approach, the additional short-term expenses will take longer to recover from.
These five practical steps form a guide to meeting employee needs during times of change:
1. Communication and Transparency
Effective and transparent communication throughout the process is vital to ensuring employees feel safe and like they belong. Have regular check-ins, centralise all information and documentation for ease of access, and hold an open-door policy.
2. Learning and Development
Ensure employees understand they have a future with your business by building learning and development opportunities into your transformation strategy. Giving employees the chance to learn new skills - to evolve with the company supports their esteem and self-actualisation needs.
3. Employee Recognition and Rewards
Don’t let your business transformation projects overshadow your employee recognition and reward strategy. Keep the momentum going by encouraging peer-to-peer recognition. A thank you and nod to a job well done costs nothing but makes a big impact. Take that to the next step and boost morale further by issuing cash rewards via an eVoucher or topping up their Virtual Pluxee Card and reinforcing their esteem.
Rewards also support in promoting desirable behaviours during change to help colleagues understand what you expect. This approach is especially effective during cultural transformations.
4. Fostering a Culture of Collaboration
Find influencers - employees who are engaged with the transformation and can offer peer-based support to others. These influencers can advocate for change but also act as a middle ground - a safe space where employees may be able to raise the questions they’re uncomfortable bringing up with their managers.
That said, leaders must set the example of collaboration. You want employees to feel like they’re part of the process, not that change is being forced upon them, regardless of what it means.
5. Ensuring You Meet Basic Needs
Hold regular check-ins with employees to learn how they feel throughout the business transformation process. Are they feeling stressed? Are they practising self-care and sleeping? Prioritise mental and emotional wellbeing during change to ensure employees can function on the most basic level.
Putting People First with Pluxee UK
Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs gives us much to discuss - more than we could squeeze into one blog post, so be sure to read the next blog in this series - ‘Using Maslow’s Theories to Keep Employee Engagement High During Business Transformation’.
Business transformation doesn’t just happen on paper. It may start with a consultant, a meeting, or a drawing board, but it unfolds in a workplace powered by people. Use Maslow’s theory to fully understand the impact change can have on those affected, keep employee wellbeing at the heart of your strategy and reap the benefits.
