Basic psychological need | Description | Need-based experience | Need-based support |
Autonomy | · Leaders’ capacity to make informed and uncoerced decisions. · Experience of volition and willingness. · Satisfaction: a sense of integrity as when one’s actions, thoughts, and feelings are self-endorsed and authentic. · Frustration: a sense of pressure and often conflict, such as feeling pushed in an unwanted direction. | · Supports feelings of personal satisfaction and well-being. · Increase capacity to achieve one’s own goals within a workplace context. | · Providing employees, the freedom of agency to make meaningful decisions. · By creating a workplace environment that allows them to freely engage in activities that they enjoy. · Managerial support and ensuring employees have control over their work. |
Competence | · Individual’s skills and capabilities to achieve their own objectives, as well as those of their organization. · Experience of effectiveness and mastery. · Satisfaction: capably engages in activities and experiences opportunities for using and extending skills and expertise. · Frustration: a sense of ineffectiveness or even failure and helplessness. | · Encourage personal goal setting that does not conflict with work-life balance, helping their employees to find a good fit between the two. | · Maximized through providing positive feedback and praise. |
Relatedness | · The social nature of human beings, and their connectedness with others. · Experience of warmth, bonding, and care. · Satisfaction: connecting to and feeling significant to others. · Frustration: a sense of social alienation, exclusion, and loneliness. | · Supportive workplace setting, feelings of closeness with others and social engagement are valued. | · Forming teams that enable employees to share in innovative projects. · Communicating about personally relevant matters. · Participating in shared activities. · Having a group of friends to share informal social time. · Feeling understood and appreciated. · Participating in pleasant activities. · Avoiding arguments and conflicts. · Avoiding self-conscious or insecure feelings. · Should be given the autonomy to establish and nurture relationships with whomever they choose, and to interact freely with any relevant professional networks. · Create a workplace environment where employees feel connected to co-workers, customers, and the organization as a whole. |