What Managers Can Do to Motivate Employees Who Lose Motivation?

As a leader and a person who is working in a corporate environment, we have fallen victim of demotivation as well as we have observed others becoming the victim. Maybe we can self counsel ourselves and talk ourselves out of the demotivation trap, but that certainly does not mean that others can do too. It’s not the same situation with everyone. Believe it or not, but many of us greatly struggle in recalibrating their lives back to the point where they felt greatly motivated to achieve big. It’s an inner feeling that needs to be revitalized. And we often start thinking that they need to get out of their mindset and stop being unproductive. We want them to snap out of that situation instantly and get back on their feet. As easy as it may sound when it comes to motivating yourself, it’s no child’s play.

People are different. No two souls are exactly alike and hence, neither is their coping mechanism. 

While leaders can get into a sense of shaking the demotivation, employees and subordinates who rely on great leaders can’t seem to shake that feeling off. At times as such, it becomes the leader’s responsibility to ensure that they successfully motivate their employee to come out of such a trap. 

Are you a manager or a leader yourself and you are experiencing employee demotivation at the firm? It’s time you harness the power to ensure your leadership is effective. Here’s how to kill demotivation. 

Define a Purpose for Them

Often times, people feel demotivated when they can’t seem to find the purpose of their efforts. If they can’t seem to relate to a purpose, they feel as if their life is meaningless and they are only fulfilling the requirements of the society to go to a job, perform duties and then come back home. And it’s not just the sub-ordinates who feel that way, but it is also ourselves as leaders who can fall into the same gap.

If only some way a leader can show that their employees’ efforts are making a difference…

For example, a call center was working on a campaign of fundraising felt demotivated, their leader went out of the way to convince scholarship students to visit their call center. The students not only attended but thanked the call center representatives for their great efforts in raising the funds for their education. Guess what, the employees found a purpose and the company soared through the roofs in the next coming days. The profit margin went way above the line and the business greatly flourished. 

Let Them Experiment New Things

If you want to activate the seeking system of your employees, create an experimental “safe zone” for them. By allowing them to explore & experiment with new ideas and implement them, you will not only help them push their fears back but you will also ensure that their anxieties of demotivation are at bay. 

If the implementations are successful, it will give room to positive emotions and will help them steer a course in the right direction. It’s not just a “feel good” adrenaline, but it’s a whole lot more. Providing free space to individuals can help boost their intrinsic motivation. Being intrinsically motivated is much more rewarding than being extrinsically motivated on the job. With intrinsic motivation, you get more capable of unleashing the maximum potential of your ultimate creativity. Firms that are working on the intrinsic motivation working model are more agile and have the perfect potential to encourage employees so they can do more. They have the ability to think up new ideas/take the best approaches. 

Such models are a great source of fueling the employees with the right kind of motivation. 

Allow them to Be More Self-Expressive

There’s a philosophy that states, 

“The ultimate satisfaction comes from the innate drive of an individual to show that he or she is capable of showing others who they truly are and what can they achieve to create an impact.” 

Often, employees in the wake of establishing a work-life balance or maintaining a job, they forget about this inner feeling. Instead, they interlock themselves in the constant drill of working hard and proving themselves to their managers that they are worth being a part of the team. This innate drive has killed many creative minds in the past and limited their capacity to achieve great things in life. 

Are you such kind of a leader who would place a cap on your sub-ordinates capability to express? 

Don’t be. 

Nobody and I say, nobody wants to limit their thresholds to outperform themselves and show what they are truly capable of. There’s a deep desire in each of us to show that we have a unique set of skills. We want others to know about our perspectives so we can make informed decisions for them. 

Self-expression is an innate trait in everyone. We are always inclined at expressing who we are. This is something that keeps us deeply motivated and helps us move forward with the right form of strength.  

Help them Build Their Authority

And in a final note, I would like to ask the managers out there to make sure that they enable their employees/sub-ordinates to harness the power of authority. With the COVID 19 outbreak, we are going through some tough times. And at times as such, it is important that we give our employees enough liberty so they can find a survival. The world is coming to an economic collapse and things are getting dangerous everywhere. Famine can come into effect at any time and what’s worst! We can all feel the heat of the burden of survival upon our shoulders. All people want right now is to harness the situation somehow. And you as managers can give them that confidence and motivation. It will help them think far better. Because right now, it is not just the case of performing but it is a matter of survival.