Why Your Employees Stop Working Hard
Photo by Resume Genius on Unsplash
Is your quiet, hardworking, and compliant employee suddenly no longer any of those things? Perhaps they’re more disrespectful, no longer go above and beyond and they’ve stopped asking for growth opportunities. Of course, there could be many possibilities as to why they’ve changed their behaviour - but it may be possible that the absence of culture and leadership has taken a toll on them.
It’s a pattern that I’ve seen happen countless times amongst people I know, and even myself in a previous job. I’m going to dive into how this pattern emerges and how we fix it.
Absent work culture
Everything these days is “work culture this, work culture that” - there’s a reason for it. Your company’s culture encompasses so many elements of the workplace experience that can make or break your team’s enthusiasm for their jobs. Let’s go through 4 of the main culprits of poor work culture that I’ve seen cause a shift in attitude:
Lack of appreciation and praise
An absence of “Good job” or “I really appreciate you doing this or that” really adds up over time. Those people who go the extra mile and then get no appreciation or acknowledgment notice it, and over time start to realize they’re wasting their time. After all, if it’s the same response when I do it or don’t do it - why waste the extra energy? Energy out requires energy in.
Lack of growth
Nothing is a slap in the face as having a supervisor hired to supervise you, but they’re so bad at their job that you end up having to supervise them (true story). If you hire someone and the person below them has to train them - you’ve made the wrong decision in hiring vs promoting. That person will remember your decision, and it will have an impact on their work ethic. If you’re not offering any opportunities to further their training, especially after giving them an excuse along the lines of “You have the experience, but you don’t have the correct degree/certification.” they’re going to realize the only way up is out.
Lack of respect
This is probably the biggest one. When I say respect I mean respecting their time, their work, their emotions, and their experience as a human being. I’ve had friends who’ve had their leave canceled the day before because their managers can’t handle things without them - multiple times! Any plans they’ve made down the drain because their manager couldn’t make a backup plan (even after having months to do so). That is so incredibly disrespectful of their time. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that sometimes things happen, but consistently disrespecting your employees is going to lead to resentment and apathy - as I’m about to discuss.
Lack of purpose or meaningful work
A lot of people just don’t find their work meaningful or purposeful and it tends to have a large impact on their enthusiasm for their work. While some jobs just aren’t world-altering, it’s up to leaders to remind their teams why their jobs matter. After all, if they didn’t matter they wouldn’t be necessary. Appreciation is a great way to do this. Without a sense of purpose or meaningfulness, people don’t feel like they’re contributing. If people don’t feel like they’re contributing, they will be less inclined to contribute more.
Pushback leads to dehumanizing behaviour
So, in a workplace where the above elements are present, we may start to see people lose enthusiasm and start to build resentment. Once enough resentment builds, we start to see a person who is less compliant and will no longer stand for disrespect. This is the turning point I’ve seen consistently, and even with my own eyes at my previous job.
When they start to speak out, they’re met with passive aggression, harsh feedback, and even abuse of power. It’s like a sudden reminder that they are just seen as a resource to be used and not a human being. I remember my co-worker crying in the bathroom because of the stress and pressure on her after giving feedback on the unrealistic workload we had to complete due to mismanagement. She resigned a month later with a new job.
I, on the other hand, as someone who avoids conflict and was taught to keep my head down and work, was our manager’s favorite. It was scary to see the stark difference in how I was spoken to and the opportunities I was presented with vs my colleagues. When my last day came, the office got donuts, almost as a “See what happens when you behave?”. Looking back, it was so dehumanizing and manipulative. It took me a long time to heal from being in that kind of work environment. I remember distinctly that the sentiment towards work in our team was to do just enough work because we were all tired and trying to preserve our mental health.
The worst part is there’s often no support system or established conflict resolution method most of the time that can solve this pattern of back and forth. This is because a lot of the time when there’s no workplace culture and there’s no relationship, which means management is relying solely on power dynamics to keep their teams working.
Apathy and burnout
Eventually, apathy sets in and the attitude becomes “Just get through the day. Do enough work to not get fired. You’re here for the money.” After a while of being in a detrimental work environment, a person gets burned out emotionally and physically. They won’t volunteer to go over and above because there’s no point and no one would do it for them - it’s not worth the energy expense (energy out without energy in).
Of the instances I’ve seen following this pattern, by this time they’re most likely looking for another job and are checked out.
How do we fix it?
Honestly? If your team is already at the stage of apathy, it’s going to be a real challenge to get them to buy into whatever changes you want to implement. It starts with showing commitment. We can start with 2 areas of the 4 I mentioned earlier: appreciation and respect.
Basically, you have to work on building a relationship with your team that does not rely on a power dynamic. The reason I recommend working on this first is that it is something that can be done every single day consistently and is the building block for everything else. Here are a few ways you can build this relationship:
Bring some lightheartedness back to the office: Laughter and joy are great ways to uplift people and bring them closer together. Sharing appreciation in a great way to infuse joy into any team dynamic - I’ve written a great blog post on how exactly an appreciation circle works here. Don’t be afraid to tell jokes or share funny stories - work doesn’t need to be so serious all the time.
Treat your team like adults: I’ve seen a lot of high-school teacher behavior in these sort of workplaces. News flash: we aren’t in high school anymore! Things like telling people when they can go on break, that they can’t use their leave, they’re not sick enough to go home, or the worst one - no phones during office hours! If you treat your team like rebellious teenagers, they’re gonna be just as fond of you as a rebellious teen (ie. not at all). Show some respect and trust that they will complete their work without micromanagement.
Talk to them: Obvious, I know. But I don’t mean the everyday “How are you?” exchange and work discussions, I mean really talk to them and listen. If you don’t know your team well enough to know some of their likes, dislikes, hobbies, or what they get up to outside of work - you don’t talk to them enough. It also means you need to share and embrace a level of vulnerability. Be a role model for the openness you want to see within your team and they will most likely follow.
Conclusion: Something worth working for
If you notice this pattern in your team, it’s time for a major change. It’s a warning sign that there’s something (or somethings) missing for your team from their job. It’s time to re-evaluate - what can you change to better the work environment for you and your team? And if you’re new to your team then congratulations, you’ve got an opportunity to transform their lives at work and their relationships with each other.
