21 December 2018

Demotivation at work: the 3 most frequent causes

La demotivation at work is one of the reasons why your employees may leave your company.

Now, what are the causes of a person becoming demotivated? In this post we reveal the three most frequent ones.

Table of contents

Lack of motivation at work due to insufficient wages

It's obvious that anyone working for a company does so to earn money. And that's why, if they don't think what they earn at your company is enough, demotivation will set in, leading them to accept an offer from another company that pays them better as soon as the opportunity arises.

The problem is that not all companies can easily increase their workers' wages. Furthermore, for it to be a valued amount by the employee, taxes such as income tax (IRPF) must be taken into account and included in said pay rise.

What is the solution? If, as we can see, taxes are a hindrance, you can opt for services such as the Flexible remuneration, which provides your employees with the advantage that certain expenses (meals, transport, etc.) are not subject to income tax and, therefore, it is money that they will receive in their accounts. without affecting the basis of your National Insurance contributions.

However, there are also employees who, despite having a sufficient salary, suffer from a lack of motivation at work for other reasons…

Demotivation at work due to a lack of involvement

Another of the most frequent causes of demotivation at work is the lack of involvement with the position held, which is known as Intrinsic motivation.

There are many people who work solely and exclusively to earn a salary. However, there are also others who love what they do and for whom their daily professional activity is a source of self-fulfilment. In such people, if a greater opportunity for self-fulfilment arises that offers similar remuneration to what you offer, they will probably leave you.

Imagine you have an employee on your staff who enjoys their work but doesn't love it, earning €1,500 net per month. They receive a job offer from another company that aligns with what they wish to do professionally, though it pays €1,200 net per month. They are very likely to leave if they consider the other company's offer provides them with a minimum income based on the quality of life they desire.

Therefore, To combat demotivation at work, it's not enough to just increase salaries.. It is also necessary that you ensure your employees feel professionally satisfied with the work they do.

However, there is still one cause that can make one of your employees leave, even if they are involved with your company and satisfied with their current salary.

Demotivation at work due to a bad working environment

In any professional environment, there are social relationships. Between colleagues, between people from different departments, in the form of vertical communication, with suppliers or clients... And since humans are social by nature, a toxic environment can be source of demotivation at work.

That is why the human resources department You must closely monitor relations between your employees and take action as soon as there are signs of friction or emotional tension between team members.

Some solutions to improve the working environment in the company are:

  • Enabling common relaxation spaces (cafeteria, sofa area, etc.) that encourage spontaneous communication and allow the human resources department to observe and detect problems among employees.
  • Training related to the work environment, social relationships, emotional intelligence, Stress management
  • Carrying out team-building activities that lead to the unification of different members of a department or of workers from different departments.

Edenred Spain