Dealing with Unmotivated Employees
(Cont.)

Enduring Motivation

Dealing with  unmotivated Employees

Motivating Yourself
Maximum Motivation

Success From Scratch

Lessons For Success

Success Secrets

Successful Life Choices
10 Keys to Success

Building A Better Boss

Skills of  an Effective Manager

Fortune Cookie Management

Managing Fairness
Management & Training

Unifying Leadership

4 Lesseons for Leaders

Take Action

Leadership Behind the Walls
Leadership Pitfalls

Commit To A Goal

Work Smart

Choosing a Profession

A Determined Will
Be A Goal Getter....
One Race at a Time

      Even a manager who does everything possible to support motivation may still encounter problem employees. Remember that individuals are ultimately responsible for their own motivation. If an employee stubbornly decides that he or she hates a job or doesn’t care about performance standards, a manager’s only choice may be termination:

Employee motivation can also be affected by personal factors outside the workplace, including:

Ø  Money problems

Ø  Illness or loss of a family member

Ø  Family or marital conflict

Ø  Drug, alcohol, or gambling addiction (s)

Ø  Physical illness

Ø  Chronic depression

      As a manager, it is not your role to counsel employees on personal issues. However, if you learn or have reason to believe that an outside problem is assistance. Many organizations have assistance programs to which you can refer an employee for confidential counseling. Check with your human resources department to see what your organization offers.

Remember your Responsibilities
      Though you may sympathize with the troubled employee, remember that you have a responsibility to your organization and your team to be sure that all employees responsibility to your organization and your team to be sure that all employees maintain high levels of performance. An employee who is consistently unable to meet performance standards—for whatever reason—will keep your team from meeting its goals and discourage the motivation of team members. Remember to document all employee performance problems according to your organization’s procedures so that you will be able to defend a termination should one become necessary.

      Will firing poorly performing employee destroy the motivation of the rest of your team? Almost never, if you follow proper procedures and keep the situation as professional as possible. The remaining employees were probably aware of the problem and will understand your decision. If the terminated employee was difficult to work with, they may even e relieved.

      Of course, prevention is better than having to deal with employees in this extreme manner. You can’t prevent all personal problems, since people themselves are unpredictable, but making sound hiring decisions and assigning workers to jobs that fit their abilities will greatly increase your chances of motivational success.   v

Back    -	Print  Article   -