Lack of Motivation in the workplace

Lack of Motivation in the workplace

Motivation in a workplace is a significant driver of the productivity of a company. However, some incidences render poor working conditions that lead to causing issues in the workplace. Some of the problems related to lack of motivation include reduced productivity, employee tension or dissatisfaction, and high turnover rates. Therefore, there is need for management and leaders to consider factors that can contribute to improving motivation, as well as rectifying what hurts motivation in employees, such as bad management, workplace tension, and lack of promotion opportunities for employees.

The link between Motivation and Workplace environment

Working place environment is related to diverse workers whose inputs in the organization is determined by the quality and perceptions of their jobs. According to Vanthournout, Noyens, Gijbels, et al. (2014), the level of motivation among employees determines the quality of the services rendered. Further, the authors emphasize on how motivation acts a mediating factor that defines workplace climate factors. Further sentiments are echoed by Pardoe, Vincent, and Conway (2018) as they elaborate on how motivation plays a role in climate adaptation.

Moreover, there are some external influence and the prevailing workplace environment that have an impact on motivation among workers. One of the areas that require motivation is the government’s jobs as most people have to adapt to mainstreaming climate change based on policies and plans. Motivation is vital for organizations and government offices when implementing climate change. It will affect the decision making process and resources. In their study, Pardoe et al. (2018) recognized that external influences and hierarchical structures do not have a substantial direct impact among employees on their level of motivation. However, they felt less armed to implement some plans.

Effects of lack of motivation on productivity

Various studies have documented challenges that employees go through when working. Among them, include stress or tension and job dissatisfaction. Stress and the level of job satisfaction are determined by factors such as working hours, the type of interaction that management team has with the employees, and the group coordination (Halkos, & Bousinakis, 2010). It was evident that lack of motivation and increased stress among employee’s results to reduced productivity, whereas the opposite is exact. The management has a role to play when assigning duties to employees to avoid circumstances that interfere with personal life. This implies a negative effect on productivity. According to Halkos and Bousinakis (2010), companies should ensure that employees are satisfied and conscientious to enhance their productivity through quality work regardless of the workload. It boosts the energy and goodwill among the employees to propel a business to success.

Employee tension or dissatisfaction due to lack of motivation

A good working environment is crucial for employees to deliver the required services. However, some employees feel threatened or under pressure in some organizations. One of the primary cause of dissatisfaction is the lack of transparency and trust from the leaders or employers. Brandes, and Darai, (2017) in their article ‘the value and motivating mechanism of transparency in organizations’’ have elaborated the role played by transparency in a workplace. The author confirms that indeed clarity enhances organizational performance as the level of uncertainty diminishes among the workers.  Employees are put under various states when working, and some such as wage rate and leadership can affect their satisfaction. For instance, a fixed-wage has a direct impact on satisfaction, especially when it is on the lower side.

Lack of transparency can be overshadowed by rumours and hearsays that lead to tension among employees. If a rumour spread about payment decrease of layoffs, the employees will feel demotivated, whereas pressure will dominate the workplace. However, if the leaders show informative transparency is a reliable tool to keep employees well informed and feel trusted too. Transparency goes further to gather the courage to announce ‘bad news’, which would reduce the damage compared to the failure to let the employees know the real situation as uncertainty is reduced.

High turnover rates due to lack of motivation

According to Waldman and Arora (2004), the turnover rate can be calculated by dividing the level of employee terminations by the average number of active employees retained by the employer based on the studied period.  Companies are working hard to keep their employees given the consequences of high turnover rates on the costs of recruiting new employees. One of the primary reason why there can be High turnover rates is the lack of motivation among the employees. The management has the mandate to ensure that employees are satisfied in their positions to avoid leaving the organization.

Further, if employees are not satisfied with what they are doing, there is a tendency of increasing the turnover rates as employees seek better working environments. According to Narayan, John-Stewart, Gage, and O’Malley (2018), Sierra Leone’s health sectors have been performing poor as the number of healthcare workers willing to work in rural areas have been decreasing. A study to determine the cause of job dissatisfaction and poor retention in the sector revealed that lack of rights, benefits, and opportunities among employees led to an unwillingness to work in these areas. As a result, the health workers are preferring to work in other countries hence increasing turnover rates as they experience demotivation.

Factors Contributing To Lack Of Motivation In Work Places

Employers and management teams must address factors that lead to lack of motivation and rectifying what hurts motivation in employees. Some of the factories identified include bad management, workplace tension, and lack of promotion opportunities for employees. Narayan et al., (2018) cited varies factors that include lack of promotion opportunities as the cause of ailing Sierra Leone’s health sector in the rural areas. Demand to deliver quality services among employees have led to social psychological factors that contribute to stress as workers have to work extremely, which leads to burnout (Prada-Ospina, 2019). More so, workers are suffering and falling sick when in workplaces, which affect their level of motivation and job satisfaction.  Exhaustion and stress related to workplaces have led to reduced productivity as employees suffer burnouts. Article by Prada-Ospina (2019) concludes that there is an interrelationship between work activities and exhaustion as the latter lead to work stress that affects motivation among employees. Bad management is another cause for demotivation among employees.  A case study on the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) is an indication of the consequences of bad management in which the employees are not involved in decision making (Tsvangirai, & Chinyamurindi, 2019). The authors empathize on good engagement with employees to maintain motivation.

Conclusion

To sum up, the lack of motivation in workplaces is a significant setback for organizations as the employees feel in the wrong position. As a result, they do not deliver the required services, whereas some may opt to leave the current employer for better opportunities. The working environment should be favourable for all employees and void of tension or stress that could ruin their motivation.

References

Brandes, L., & Darai, D. (2017). The value and motivating mechanism of transparency in organizations. European economic review, 98, 189–198.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.06.014

Halkos, G. & Bousinakis, D. (2010). The effect of stress and satisfaction on           productivity”, international journal of productivity and performance management, 59     (5), 415-431. https://doi.org/10.1108/17410401011052869

Narayan, V., John-Stewart, G., Gage, G., & O’Malley, G. (2018). “If I had known, I would         have applied”: Poor communication, job dissatisfaction, and attrition of rural health           workers in Sierra Leone. Human resources for health, (1).

https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1186/s12960-018-0311-y

Pardoe, J., Vincent, K., & Conway, D. (2018). How do staff motivation and workplace                environment affect capacity of governments to adapt to climate change in developing    countries? Environmental science and policy, 90, 46–53.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.09.020

Prada-Ospina, R. (2019). Social psychological factors and their relation to work-related stress       as generating effect of burnout. Interdisciplinaria: Revista de psicología y ciencias           afines, 36(2), 39–53. Retrieved from

https://search-ebscohost-         com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=140966723&site=eds-     live&scope=site

Tsvangirai, F. & Chinyamurindi, W. (2019). zThe moderating effect of employee motivation         on workplace surveillance and employee engagement amongst employees at the    Zimbabwe Revenue Authority. South African journal of human resource      management, (0), e1. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.4102/sajhrm.v17i0.1106

Vanthournout, G., Noyens, D., Gijbels, D. et al. (2014). The relationship between workplace        climate, motivation and learning approaches for knowledge workers. Vocations                   and learning 7, 191–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-014-9112-1