Humanistic Workplace Paper ABSTRACT In today's workplace, humanism would focus on developing the employee's self-concept. If the employee feels good about himself, then it is a positive start. Feeling good about yourself would involve understanding your strengths and weaknesses and trusting your ability to improve. Learning is not an end in itself; it is the means of progressing toward the pinnacle of self-development, which Maslow calls “self-actualization.” For example, a child learns because he is guided inward and derives his reward from the sense of accomplishment that comes from having learned something. This would differ from the behaviorist view which expects extrinsic rewards to be more effective. Extrinsic rewards are rewards that come from the outside world, such as praise, money, gold stars, etc. Intrinsic rewards are rewards that come from oneself, a bit like the satisfaction of a need. This is in accordance with the humanistic approach, according to which education is really about creating a need in the child or instilling self-motivation in the child. Behaviorism is about rewarding others. Humanism means rewarding yourself! HUMANISTIC WORKPLACE Much of a humanistic supervisor's effort would be devoted to developing an employee's self-esteem. It would be important for employees to feel good about themselves (high self-esteem) and feel that they can set and achieve appropriate goals (high self-efficacy). This form of supervision is known as employee-centered and is characterized by the employee taking responsibility for their own productivity and taking charge of their own learning. Behaviorists might argue for positive reinforcement such as praise and punishment in the form of denial... center of paper... In conclusion, looking at Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be a useful way for an organization to help their employees. Providing your staff with an appropriate atmosphere will lead to the employee's development on the path to self-realization. Creating this document has given me a number of ideas that will be useful when I start my own business, as I now intend to take a humanistic approach to management. The construction company I was part of gave me the opportunity for self-realization. Reaching the final plateau also requires a strong family life, but organization can lead the charge. LIST OF REFERENCES Frunizi, George L. and Patrick E. Savini. Supervision: the art of management. Prentice Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1997Hodgetts, Richard M. and Fred Luthans. International management. Irwin McGraw Hill, Boston, MA, 2000.