Five Barriers to Successful Employee Motivation

Both Employees and Supervisors Contribute to Lack of Motivation

The blame game is a powerful component when employees display a lack of motivation. Interestingly, it’s a strong factor on both sides of the equation.

Managers complain about individuals and teams that lack motivation, professional pride, and dedication to high performance. Employees whine about supervisors’ lack of knowledge, support, communication, and education.

When mixed and baked, this negative stew can be a very dangerous meal. Unfortunately, like many bad habits and behaviors, lack of motivation can devour and expand like a dangerous virus throughout the company.

When both sides use the blame game as justification, solving this problem becomes ever more difficult. As staff and management become more entrenched and invested in their opposing opinions, problem solutions diminish.

Admitting that a motivation problem exists is the first step—a necessary one—in beginning to correct the situation. Until this step is accomplished, it is impossible to begin identifying, understanding, analyzing, or solving the issue. Those taking this critical first step must then face the next hurdle: identifying and understanding.

Here are five popular and very common barriers to employee motivation. This information helps the identification process and leads to understanding. This step does not, in any way, imply agreement with these barriers. It matters little whether employees and managers agree with the truth or fantasy of these feelings. Reality demands that all parties accept that these attitudes exist and need correction.

Five Barriers and Ways to Remove Them

Employees often experience the following feelings, attitudes, and beliefs that destroy motivation and performance.

1. We aren’t paid or given thanks for working harder and longer. While always a common feeling, the effect of the recent deep recession has increased its popularity. Unfortunately, many employees adopting this attitude are correct. Many employees witnessed downsized and laid off former staff receive severance packages, paid training to learn new skills, counseling, and other exit benefits, while remaining workers worked harder, longer, performed other duties, and received the same or less compensation.
2. We don’t agree with the process, but we’ve always done it that way. A common motivation destroyer since the mid-20th century, this barrier often grows through lack of two-way communication. Many employees working in the trenches have wonderful ideas for operations improvements, but are seldom asked for their suggestions. Conversely, management often forgets or refuses to explain the necessity of certain policies and procedures. Staff then assumes management lacks knowledge or a commitment to excellence.
3. Our managers have no clue what we do and how we do it. This barrier can become an employee, team, manager, and even company killer. Although good leaders may or may not be loved by their troops, they must always have the individuals' and the team’s respect. Being a brilliant and knowledgeable manager is of little value if those being managed do not agree. Employees, however, sometimes assume that which is not in evidence, believing supervisors don’t know what the team is doing simply because the manager isn’t performing these tasks.
4. We do as little as possible, but avoid being fired or laid off. When employees feel unappreciated or valueless, they sometimes adopt this attitude. It is a total motivation and dedication destroyer. You could easily find numerous real world case studies that reinforce the danger inherent in this barrier if it is not addressed forcefully and quickly.
5. We’re required to perform tasks that aren’t in our job descriptions. When people use their job description as their working bible, these feelings often arise. Usually, however, this barrier grows from another issue noted above. Unless one is working in a strict, by-the-book workplace, most employees are willing to help whenever needed. However, should other barriers, real or imagined, arise and confidence in management erodes, many employees blow the dust off their job descriptions and approach the phrase “other duties as assigned” with distrust.

As an employee, you simply cannot wait for supervisors and management to eliminate these barriers. You must generate your own professional pride in yourself first. Regardless of your job and position on the organization chart, you should always give 100 percent and refrain from vocalizing negative feelings.

You may have one or more of the attitudes noted above for valid reasons, but first, learn whether your reasons are real or imagined. If imagined, take the step to open communication with managers to help, not accentuate, the problem. Should the reasons for your lack of motivation be real, consider seeking other employment. Use a top employment firm, like Kelly Services, to help match you with an employer that understands and fosters high motivation. Even if you have limited authority at your company, you always have total power over yourself. Remember, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”