McCLELLAND’S ACHIEVEMENT AND ACQUIRED NEEDS THEORY
Use to understand the three overarching needs that people within your team have.
David McClelland proposed the theory that people are motivated by one of three needs: the need for achievement, power or affiliation. He argued that a person’s motivation and effectiveness in a specific job function would be influenced by one of these needs.
McCLELLAND’S ACHIEVEMENT AND ACQUIRED NEEDS THEORY CAN BE SUMMARISED AS:
Achievement (N-Ach): The N-Ach person seeks achievement, attainment of realistic but challenging goals, recognition for a job well done and advancement.
Power (N-Pow): The N-Pow person has a strong desire to motivate or lead others. This can take the form of personalised power which can involve seeking advancement at the expense of others.
Affiliation (N-Affil): The N-Affil person has a need to maintain friendly relationships and interaction with others and seek acceptance from them.
Although the drive to satisfy one of the needs will dominate, individuals will also need to satisfy elements of the other two.
HOW TO USE IT
- There’s no questionnaire to help you here. You’ll have to talk to each person individually about what they want from their job and what they think they can contribute to the organisation. Keep the meeting friendly but don’t be afraid to ask direct and challenging questions.
- Based on the information collected, identify which of McClelland’s three needs dominates each person and develop a strategy for dealing with them.
- Individuals who have a need for achievement (N-Ach) will thrive when you give them personal responsibility. But they fear failure and may only be prepared to take moderate risks. Give them support and regular feedback but step in if they start to demand too much of other team members who are not as task focused as them (see Theories 5 and 12).
- Individuals who have a need for power (N-Pow) have a high work ethic and a commitment to the organisation and their job. Which is great. However, many people who seek personalised power don’t have the flexibility and people skills required to work well with others. Give them projects to work on alone and keep a watchful eye on them. Step in if their behaviour becomes overly forceful (see Theories 31 and 92).
- Individuals who have a need for affiliation (N-Affil) are a treasure to work with until their fixation on maintaining good social relationships undermines their ability to do their job. Play to their strengths. Insist that they do their job but allow them time to act as mediator in minor disputes among team members and organise the social activities for the team (see Theory 40).
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- Which stereotype do I and members of my team fall into?
- Do I need to change my behaviour or that of my staff?