Nothing demotivates employees as much as bad leadership. How bosses destroy the motivation of their employees with these typical motivation killers – and learn how they can do it better.
SUB-DEMAND
No wonder that the eternally same routine in the job is one of the biggest typical motivation killers: Anyone who does the same job every day for years will eventually become lethargic and bored. And possibly gets into a vicious circle of stagnation – because who does his job without commitment, does not necessarily qualify for demanding tasks.
That’s what makes good bosses different:
“You should overstrain your employees in the long term rather than under-demand,” say experts. “Those who are allowed to take on more demanding tasks on their own account are often proud and take special pains.
Of course, there are standard tasks in every company that needs to be done. A good boss makes sure that these unpopular activities do not always get stuck with the same people – for example, by occasionally resizing job profiles or rotating tasks in a team. And: Even for careful completion of standard tasks, an employee has earned a commendation!
MISSING OR INCORRECT INFORMATION
How does the company stand? What are the goals of the boss? Is my job safe? Employees often ask questions like these, even if they often do not comment on them. If there are no answers from the executives, it is the poison for motivation. “When we interviewed employees, ‘What makes them dissatisfied?’, Lack of information was usually mentioned first,”.
In order not to cause trouble early, executives would often keep bad news under the blanket for a long time. And that is a mistake, according to experts: The employees then learn the news in a different way – which can cause lasting damage to the relationship of trust.
In addition, especially in large companies or in complex work processes, employees often feel that their work is unimportant and does not contribute to the company’s success. The result is the ever-recurring thought: “What am I doing here? Whether I make an effort or not makes no difference anyway … ”
Sometimes the solution is as simple as it is obvious: Regular meetings help your team stay up-to-date. But even daily meetings miss the target when talking about the wrong topics. “Inform your employees about unpopular projects,”. Share your entrepreneurial vision with your employees at these meetings. And dare to show passion – that’s what matters.
DISTRUST
Constant controls, no room for maneuver – employees notice quickly if their superiors do not trust them. The result: The motivation sinks into the cellar, any initiative disappears. And not only that: in such a climate of mistrust, employees will barely admit if they’ve made mistakes – making it harder to limit the damage.
“Just do it alone” – many a control-mad boss has to jump over his shadow for this sentence. But it’s worth it. “Only those who give their employees an appropriate advance of trust can expect that they, too, will trust them,” A trusting relationship between boss and employee is also the basis for a healthy culture of mistakes in the company, where failure is seen as an opportunity to do better next time.
LACK OF APPRECIATION
“You have done well.” Many employees hear words like these from their bosses far too seldom. Good work is taken for granted, only errors are commented on. But whoever receives no positive feedback, loses the desire to work.
Employees may also feel unappreciated because their bosses are not finding the right words. “When you say to your co-worker, ‘You have not done so badly’, he says ‘not at all’ – a negative word, and ‘bad’ – a negative word,” experts believe. “One should not underestimate what this triggers in the subconscious mind.” And last but not least, esteem has a lot to do with respect: – I’m in the habit of obeying, you have to obey – this style of leadership no longer works today. it is probably one of the worst typical motivation killers!
They do not collect praise until the next feedback session but express it in a timely manner. Also, bosses often forget: recognition is also appropriate when the work was in order – not only at the 1 with asterisks. Therefore, just praise more – and look forward to the joy of employees. Appreciation also requires bosses to take employees’ ideas and concerns seriously. Regular employee appraisals help both sides to establish this form of feedback.
WRONG PROMISES
Often, bosses make promises to get their employees to make a special effort. In hindsight, these promises turn out to be hot air, the boss loses trust, demotivation is the result.
Think carefully about whether they can keep a promise – before they give it up. But even those who act to the best of their knowledge and belief must sometimes disappoint their employees. In these cases, openness is the most important thing: who can not comply with a given promise, for example, because of an unforeseen incident, should immediately talk to the employee and explain the reasons.
UNPREDICTABLE BOSS
“They hit the table roaring, even though yesterday they went over a similar situation with a joke?” Such a spin ensures frustration among the workforce.
Sure, bosses too are people, and every person is in a bad mood. They should not miss out on your employees. The important thing is that your employees can reliably predict how you will react in certain situations – this gives them security. So stay authentic!
Incidentally, this advice is by no means a call for a cuddle with one’s own workforce. There are also bone-heavy bosses who, although not loved by their employees, are valued. Because the employees know, ‘He’s like that,’ but can trust that he wants the best for the whole, and is always honest and fair.
INAPPROPRIATELY BAD PAY
Money is overrated, do you think? That the employees have fun at work is more important than the salary? Yes. If employees feel that they are not paid fairly, they are justifiably dissatisfied.
Employees find it unfair, when colleagues within the company, but also employees of other companies in the industry get more money for the same work than themselves. Especially fatal: the feeling that the salary depends on the personal wire to the boss.
Recommended Readings: How Leaders Should Motivate Their Employees.
They pay a market salary, set uniform standards of assessment of salaries in the company and pay in line with performance. These points are more important than fable amounts on the payslip, experts advise: “Money as a motivational factor is always temporary. If you want to motivate yourself with money, you would have to increase the salary every two months. “After that period, the higher salary is already the” new normal “.