Sometimes we come across an employee who seems to have lost motivation on the job. As a business owner or manager, having such kind of person on your team can be stressful. You want your staff to be happy and motivated, which are vital to get your business running smoothly and successfully.
So why are some employees not motivated and what can you do to raise their spirits at work?
They Feel Bored
Disinterest in regular or delegated tasks can make an employee become bored, start to slack off or just doing the bare minimum to coast by. Boredom can have serious consequences in the workplace. To prevent boredom, try to mix up tasks, roles and teams for your workers. If an employee needs to shore up knowledge or skills in some areas of their work, let them shadow their colleagues who are more skilled or experienced.
You can also try pairing teams with other teams when some of their functions overlap. The more work and variety you add to an employee’s tasks, the less bored and more motivated they will feel.
They Feel Disconnected From the Team
Workers spend a large part of their day and life at work, which makes the office an integral piece of a person’s life or wellbeing. It is thus important they feel the right connection and can build good relationships in the workplace to feel motivated for day to day activities or tasks.
Business owners and managers should try to integrate team-building meetings and activities in the workplace on at least a monthly basis. What’s more? Such meetings or activities can be used to stave off isolation, create a sense of camaraderie and trust, and develop the group on a skill such as ensuring cleanliness or building effective communication.
They Feel Underpaid
The sad truth about staff compensation is that it’s difficult for an employee to offer true commitment and loyalty if he or she feels underpaid or not being his or her worth. Bitterness about a sense of unfair compensation for their work will make employees less motivated on the job. If you suspect this could be the reason, then it’s time do your research to see how your competition stacks up. You should also review your strategy to avoid losing some of your star employees to better offers from rival companies.
You Hardly Promote Employees
Promotions at works take time, but beware that some of your employees have not given up on being promoted after remaining on the same level for years without an upgrade in title or responsibility despite a fairly consistent performance for that long. An employee like that will not be motivated to keep pushing for results.
You’re Micromanaging Workers
If you employed someone because you think they have the skills, experience and attitude for the job, then you shouldn’t hover them all the time like a hawk and constantly telling them what to do. Micromanaging is one of the biggest killers of motivation.
Once a worker has given a few on-the-job performances to prove that the claims on their CV and during the interview match well, you should give them the freedom to do their jobs, try their ideas and bring their own innovations when required. In the modern work environment, employees want mentors, not supervisors. Lead by example with any team you lead and as much as possible allow individual creativity as long as they are channeled to the growth of the unit or company.
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