In a good part of our lives, some dilemmas are placed in front of us and can become a serious problem if they are not resolved quickly. The lack of motivation (especially with regard to work) can bring big issues in the short and medium term both for people and for the companies in which they work.
Without motivation, it is practically impossible to work well and with focus during all the tasks that our work requires on a daily basis.
More than that, lack of motivation can be responsible for some carelessness and sloppiness that can trigger even more serious psychological factors.
Therefore, knowing what can lead to lack of motivation and how to deal with it both in the personal and professional environment is fundamental for both employees and the companies in which they work.
What leads to lack of motivation?
Lack of motivation, as well as other psychological problems that affect the professional side, do not always have clear or unique motivations.
As human beings we are unique people and with that, the reasons that lead a person to become unmotivated may be different from someone else’s.
However, some patterns can be noticed and are common to most people.
Among the main causes of demotivation at work we can highlight:
- Overwork or very repetitive and tiring tasks;
- Lack of healthy boundaries in the mix of personal and professional life;
- Moral harassment and devaluation by hierarchical superiors at work;
- Incorrect definition of goals;
- Lack of recognition and low wages.
In common to all these factors, we can say that there is a good share of responsibility on the part of the employer. Often in companies, environments are of extreme competition, even at different hierarchical levels.
This environment can be a good way to achieve goals, as long as the competition is always fair and aiming at personal and company growth.
On the other hand, when the relationship between employer and employee (or between boss and subordinate) is not harmonious, there are great chances that both are harmed.
For the employee, his mental health may be at risk and lead to more serious problems such as depression, burnout or anxiety attacks .
As for the company, problems such as high turnover caused by the high rate of resignations can cause damage.
In addition, another phenomenon common to companies whose employees are unmotivated is the high rate of absences, as well as the lack of punctuality and meeting deadlines.
In this sense, it is up to the HR manager to check with the other employees of the company about their levels of motivation and periodically evaluate the company’s practices that may lead to problems in this regard.
How to deal with lack of motivation at work?
When a collaborator is showing a lack of motivation at work, the tendency is that all the other people who work with him also have their productivity impaired.
Therefore, it is important that the company is attentive to each employee individually, so that they can promote some changes in the work routine or provide treatment to the employee.
As a manager, one should seek to understand what reasons may have led the person to this situation of demotivation.
On the other hand, the employee can also seek some answers regarding his problem. That way, he will be able to assess better than anyone what has actually brought about the lack of motivation in his work environment.
In this sense, we have brought some of the main signs of demotivation at work and how to identify them.
Check out:
– Identify the signs of demotivation
Some of the main thinkers of modern psychology point out that self-knowledge is the key to everything.
When we are talking about demotivation, we must first understand what are the main signs of it.
Often, what looks like demotivation can be something else – even more serious, as is the case with symptoms of depression .
Some of the main symptoms that can be felt by unmotivated people are:
- Reduced Productivity;
- Increased absences from work and reduced punctuality;
- Procrastinate work tasks to the fullest;
- Lack of self-confidence to perform new tasks or work in a team;
- Feeling completely unhappy with the results of what you do and blaming yourself whenever something goes wrong;
- Feeling less prepared or competent than co-workers, even for simple routines.
– Difficulty coping with routine at work
One of the main difficulties that many people have after working for a long time in a function or company is to maintain the motivation with the routine.
Often, some employees end up showing symptoms of demotivation without even knowing why.
In this sense, it is common for some people to start avoiding certain tasks at work. More than that, they also begin to not present themselves in the same way – both in appearance and in behavior.
Managers often end up leaving aside the assessment of behavioral factors and the way in which employees present themselves in the work environment.
Thus, they are unable to assess the symptoms correctly and promote the necessary corrections and adjustments regarding the company’s part in the problem.
– Feelings of frequent distress
Undoubtedly, the feeling of anguish is one of the worst things a human being can face. In addition to labor relations , it can greatly affect the way a person sees himself and lead to relevant mental confusion.
When we are unmotivated, it is very common for certain thoughts to come to mind.
Among the most common thoughts are:
- Do I have competence or am I just fooling everyone?
- I think I’ll be fired soon…
- It seems that my boss only has an eye on what I do…
- No one likes me at my work environment…
The more you have this kind of thinking, the more the person ends up entering a limbo that is harmful to their performance and mental health.
– Lack of Enthusiasm
Another very common symptom of people who feel unmotivated is a lack of enthusiasm. Nothing that happens in the work environment (or outside) seems to bring a positive enough response from the employee.
There is usually nothing you can do to improve this symptom. Any dynamic or incentive can be seen as something “ordinary” for the person.
It’s as if everything had the same relevance and was seen as “the same” for her: both good and bad factors have the same weight in her life, not being able to differentiate the symptoms.
This lack of enthusiasm happens (and influences) other issues that go beyond work tasks. For example,
– Difficulty starting tasks
There is a maxim that says that there is no person who has not already procrastinated in anything in life.
She just hasn’t procrastinated yet.
In all cases, it is worth saying that psychology assesses that procrastination is never an isolated factor. That way, it’s impossible to confuse procrastination with laziness, for example.
A collaborator will never fail to do a function established for him simply because he likes to procrastinate.
Normally, all he wanted most is for that task to be over as soon as possible, but there is something that stops him and prevents him from starting it.
Usually the factors that lead someone to not start or not complete a task are anxiety and fear of rejection or non-approval.
That’s why a culture that encourages healthy feedback is so important: being used to an environment where suggestions and criticism are encouraged, there’s no reason to blame yourself in advance for a non-approval, for example.
Why is it important to be motivated at work?
Having motivation in the work environment can be important for a number of factors.
The first (and most obvious) is that when you’re doing something you enjoy or see value in, you’re likely to do your tasks as well as possible.
And this doesn’t necessarily have to do with the possibility of earning a reward like a promotion or praise. It is simply the will to do as well as possible the work for which you are paid.
In this sense, it is also worth noting that motivation brings with it a better level of self-confidence.
With this, you will also perform your duties more smoothly, as you know your competence and know what you are doing.
Thus, you will have competitive advantages in relation to other colleagues.
There are even chances of getting the admiration of both your superiors and the people who work with you, which can also be great for making friendships and alliances within the company.
Ways to get more motivated
If you’re feeling unmotivated and still haven’t been able to identify ways to gain more confidence and motivation in your life, here are some tips:
– Think positive
This can be seen as one of the most difficult tasks in the world, especially for unmotivated, depressed or anxious people. It can even be read as an “obvious” tip, but difficult to apply.
However, thinking positive should be an exercise to be done daily.
Seeing everything from a glass-full point of view can open doors and improve your psychology.
Therefore, seeing certain challenges as opportunities, for example, will make you try harder and have the best performance in execution.
Also, evaluate what your behavior is towards your colleagues, family, tasks and routine. If you have the habit of complaining too much about things, chances are you’ll make things even worse.
Therefore, talk more with your family and colleagues about what can be done so that you can complain less.
That way, you’ll be able to have a positive approach more often and gain more motivation both at work and in life in general.
Also, a tip: if possible, try to trick your brain.
Even if a task may not be pleasant, don’t think of it as the worst thing in the world.
Start doing it without complaints and notice an improvement in your performance almost immediately!
– Establish a reward for each completed duty
Have you ever stopped to think about the last time you felt rewarded for a completed task?
One of the biggest mistakes people make when dealing with their mental health is thinking they are machines. And that, as such, they should just do what is asked, without having a relevant and interesting reward when finishing their tasks.
This can make you live “on automatic”, making deliveries and performing functions just because “you have to”.
This is extremely dangerous, as it gives an impression that everything is the same and does not really matter. So rewarding yourself can be a good way to motivate yourself.
It’s worth saying that this should be done for virtually all tasks, not for the big ones like a promotion at work.
Two examples:
- If you get a promotion at work, go on a trip or buy something you really want for the house.
- If you managed to set aside time to take care of the house and you finished that task, allow yourself to go somewhere different, eat something different or have time for your hobby .
– Seek help from a psychologist
This is the most important tip – and certainly the most neglected by people who have psychological problems.
Many people tend to think that going to a psychologist is a sign of failure or inability to deal with problems. But in fact, it’s just the opposite.
By dealing with your problems with a professional who specializes in this, you will be counting on responsible help. More than that, you will be working in a technical way on how to deal with the internal issues of your life and your head.
How to motivate employees?
– Offer fair wages
It may seem like an obvious detail, but there are many companies that pay something close to the minimum relevant to the function and demand maximum performance from their employees.
Many of the employees who find themselves in this situation do not feel sufficiently valued by the company where they work.
In this way, most of these end up showing little interest in performing their duties or in being proactive when there is something that is beyond what they were hired to do.
The worst of it is that, on several occasions, this behavior ends up becoming something systemic and that can cause problems and damage to companies, both in the short and medium and long term.
When seeing a colleague unmotivated for having a low salary, the natural tendency is for a person to also question whether his salary is not fair. This can have a domino effect and result in low employee productivity as a whole.
In addition, as stated earlier in this article, many of the problems regarding lack of motivation for companies are linked to the increase in absenteeism.
When an employee is being underpaid to perform their tasks, chances are they don’t value their work as they normally should.
With that, he starts to be late (or absent) without any kind of plausible justification – after all, for him, it doesn’t matter if he will continue or not in this job.
– Provide development opportunities
Many of the collaborators become unmotivated people from the moment they don’t see any perspective of career growth.
If you are a manager, put yourself in the shoes of the people you are responsible for in the company.
Would you go out of your way to show how good you are if you had no opportunity for promotion or better recognition from your superiors?
Most likely not.
Although we know that many of us are extremely professional people, not consistently having opportunities can be quite harmful to our psychology when it comes to careers.
In addition, another factor that can lead to lack of motivation is when an employee is always full of ideas and projects for the company and these never go ahead.
In these cases, a project is often not ready, but could be polished when received by the right manager.
In addition to offering the opportunity to a collaborator , also think about what you and the company can gain by taking a proposal forward.
There are many experiences of people who left the lowest levels of a company and became key people in the organizational chart in a short time.
In this sense, more than talent, for them it was necessary to have resilience and find the right people, who gave them the opportunities they needed.
– Have clear goals
It is very important that employees are aware of the next steps that the company will take.
Of course, this is not always possible, but a goal plan, for example, can already be quite beneficial for employees to engage in their tasks.
Again: think like an employee.
What are the chances that you will perform your tasks well if the objectives are not clear from the beginning?
Therefore, leaving the directions of a company or a sector clear brings greater motivation to employees.
More than that, they also bring a much better feeling of psychological safety – after all, when everything is going well in a company, the chances of a dismissal taking you by surprise are reduced.
– Have a feedback culture
Many companies, employees and managers have not yet been able to pay attention to the importance of the feedback culture .
This is a type of behavior that, when applied correctly in your company, tends to generate very positive results.
Among the reasons for this phenomenon is the fact that an employee feels important when their complaints are heard.
In addition, encouraging the employee to talk about their perceptions of the company, processes and hierarchy can bring long-term benefits that a manager would never have when he only had a view from his chair.
In a sales company, for example, salespeople may be at the lowest hierarchical level, but they certainly have the necessary expertise to provide the best feedback for the company to evolve.
On the other hand, a manager must know how to deal with the particularities of a company and its employees, always in a professional and respectful manner.
Therefore, employees must also be ready to listen to advice, suggestions, criticisms and complaints from their superiors.
When the channel is respectfully open on both sides, everything in the relationship improves. This happens because a virtuous cycle is created where everyone feels they are a relevant part of the company’s growth processes.
– Have a well-defined organizational culture
Less experienced entrepreneurs or those who are just beginning their journey often underestimate the power that a well-defined organizational culture can have.
Among the great benefits of a good organizational culture structured and prepared according to business interests is the fact that it allows for an environment with greater predictability of what will happen and the company’s next steps.
For example, a company whose organizational culture is based on pillars of relaxation and tranquility will bring a lighter environment for employees.
This will often make them able to donate more for the company, producing more results and performance that exceed expectations.
Once again, there is also the formation of a virtuous cycle, where employees see the dedication of their colleagues and start to do the same.
Often, an organizational culture can be highly competitive, but at the same time loyal.
That is, several employees are fighting for the same space, but acting honestly and in a way that makes everyone evolve together with the company.
– Have a corporate benefits program
Corporate benefit programs are often seen by companies only as a way to reduce tax costs.
However, more and more, benefit programs have also proven to be a fundamental part of the day-to-day activities of companies, even leading to growth in billing and income.
All this is achieved through its use by the employee, making him feel more motivated.
In addition, many of the benefit programs offer assistance in the area of physical and mental health.
This allows the company to better map the health characteristics of each employee, applying strategies to reduce the incidence of occupational diseases such as burnout and acute stress.
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Conclusion
Throughout this article, we demonstrate that there is no single culprit for lack of motivation.
Often, the symptoms denote that they start in the work environment, but it is not always possible to say that the employer is the great villain of the story.
On the other hand, there are issues that both the employee and the company he works for can mitigate the risks that lack of motivation can bring to both parties in the relationship.
In this context, relying on solid management that rewards employees who achieve their goals, as well as demonstrating that they are a relevant part of work routines, can be one of the best solutions.
In addition, constantly checking the mental health of employees and thinking about how they see themselves as part of the process makes all the difference.
Finally, on the employee side, seeking help and treatment when needed is critical.
Many people don’t realize the harm that lack of motivation can do, or simply fail to realize when they have it.
In these cases, it is up to the company and the family to encourage preventive care, with periodic consultations with a psychologist.