RE:BUILD | THE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

BY MAISIE GANZLER

RE:BUILD

...a sense of security before moving on to meet higher level mental and emotional needs of our guests

START WITH TALKING ABOUT THE MOST BASIC OF NEEDS AND WORK YOUR WAY UP

We’re all under a lot of stress right now. Just as we at Bon Appétit Management Company are trying to re:invent food service, many of our guests are having to reinvent their daily lives. Things that we took for granted like being in the same room with your professor, having daycare for your kids, and being able to sit with friends in the café now come with never-before anticipated dangers. These risks are weighing heavily on our collective minds and making it difficult to concentrate on other things.

While it’s critical that we at Bon Appétit continue to live and preach all of our values, guests’ ears might not be open to those messages at this time. We need to meet them where they are, ease whatever anxieties we can, and help them navigate this new time.

In trying to figure out how to do that, I was reminded of a psychological theory I learned in my very first Management 103 course in college: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The theory — in my words not Maslow’s (it’s been a long time since I was a freshman) — is that people must first be able to fulfill their basic needs before moving on to higher-level desires. We all start at the bottom of the pyramid, with physiological needs, and work our way up, eventually reaching a desire for self-actualization. Our communications, marketing, and operations plans should recognize this and serve those fundamental needs first.

SELF-ACTUALIZATION: Offering virtual engagement and educational activities to promote well-being.

ESTEEM: Helping people feel proud of their workplace or their school, by sharing our community efforts and sustainability commitments.

LOVE AND BELONGING: Continuing to create community around food, finding ways to interact with guests even while wearing a mask or standing behind a barrier, and constructing opportunities for guests to connect with each other.

SAFETY: Reassuring them we are taking all precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as cleaning, sanitizing, and social distancing.

PHYSIOLOGICAL: Making sure guests know where to eat, when the café is open, how to order, and what to expect, and reassuring those on special diets and/or with food allergies that they too will be taken care of.

SMALL WORLD

Did you know our very own CEO Fedele Bauccio actually worked with Abraham Maslow, creator of the eponymous Hierarchy of Needs, himself? Toward the end of his life, Dr. Maslow, accepted a fellowship with the Saga Administrative Corporation in Menlo Park, CA — the very same food service company at which Fedele, President Michael Bauccio, and several other members of our senior leadership team got their start. Stepping away from teaching gave the in-demand professor time to focus solely on his writing, and while doing so, he officed on the same campus as Fedele. “He sure was a nice guy,” says Fedele of one of the world’s most famous humanistic psychologists. “He was all about human behavior, self-esteem, and loving one another.”