5 signs of low motivation in the workplace (and what to do about it)
When it comes to motivation in the workplace, higher motivation levels lead to increased productivity, higher staff retention, and an enhanced company reputation.
Given these benefits, we naturally want highly motivated teams, regardless of whether you’re a HR or PCO professional, manager, senior leader or business owner.
So what are the signs of lack of motivation in the workplace, and how can we motivate a team to improve performance?
Let’s start by exploring some of the common red flags that your team lacks motivation.
5 signs of lack of motivation at work
Poor punctuality: If individuals are consistently arriving late to work or are slow to start work. For example, they may arrive on time but spend their first 30 minutes making a coffee, chatting to colleagues or on their phone.
Increased absence: A classic sign of a lack of motivation in the workplace is when colleagues start taking more personal leave days. Avoidance can be an early subconscious indicators that our team members aren’t motivated by their work.
A change in behaviour: This could be an individual’s contribution in team meetings, their attitude towards their colleagues or even their general demeanor. If you notice they’re more withdrawn than usual or increasingly using inappropriate or negative comments… it’s time to take notice..
Constant pushback: Lowly motivated staff are continually reluctant to take on new projects, or present as content with their current workload.. It’s important to be aware if your team is genuinely ‘at capacity’ or simply trying to avoid work.
Lack of focus: A common sign of lack of motivation in the workplace is when deadlines are consistently missed, or work not delivered to a sufficient standard.
The cost of low motivation in the workplace
Left unaddressed, low motivation in one individual can spread like a virus.
That’s because the consequences of low motivation in one individual - poor punctuality, increased absenteeism, changes in behaviour, constant pushback and a lack of focus - will eventually impact coworkers.
As a consequence, teammates are likely to have to take on extra work to help pick up the slack. This, in turn, can increase their own stress levels, create feelings of injustice, and start to impact their own motivation levels.
Before you know it, what should have been an isolated situation in one individual has extended to the broader team.
And what is more common than expected is that low motivation becomes systemic.
Team motivation truths
Before we delve into addressing low motivation in the workplace, we need to make three things clear.
Motivation in the workplace isn’t a set and forget approach. It takes a concerted and consistent approach from individuals, HR and PCO professionals, team leaders, managers, business owners and executives.
Motivation in individuals and teams will ebb and flow, depending on a range of personal, professional, environmental and other factors.
While the above two points are true, if we set the right foundations, we can make the motivation troughs shallower and the motivation peaks higher, regardless of the various factors that impact motivation levels.
How to motivate a team in the workplace
A favourite phrase of ours is, ‘We need not be motivated to be who we are’.
In other words, “who you are” is acting on your purpose. Find your purpose and you’ll have all the motivation you need.
Being motivated by our purpose is known as intrinsic motivation.
If we are intrinsically motivated, so long as we are treated fairly, we bear all manner of setbacks and situations to achieve our purpose.
This is the most ideal scenario, compared to the traditional approach of extrinsic motivation, also known as ‘carrot and stick’.
Extrinsic motivation is when employees are motivated by the avoidance of pain (i.e. discipline as a consequence of underperformance) and the seeking of pleasure (i.e. rewards or praise as a consequence of overperformance).
When we are extrinsically motivated, our motivation wavers relative to a range of factors including the level of reward, level of pain, difficulty of task and the desire to act.
Listening and observing an extrinsically motivated person’s behaviours will tell you what best motivates them.
Do they want a higher reward by way of remuneration, greater autonomy, more recognition? Are they avoiding pain because they are people pleasers, are uncomfortable with conflict or don’t want to tarnish their reputation (or ego)?
Each of us, when extrinsically motivated, has a sweet spot of performance where our pain/pleasure, desire and the difficulty of the task meet, and allow us to perform at our best.
However, to motivate a team to improve performance a manager’s role is to find each team member's' performance zone and move them from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation as quickly as possible.
You can read more about how to uncover your team member’s intrinsic motivation here.
Addressing low motivation in the workplace
If you spot any signs of low motivation in the workplace, it’s important to act quickly.
Our specialist coaches perform as an extension of your team, and use researched, evidenced-based techniques to help motivate your staff and create your own high-performing teams.
Want to find out more?