Imagine having that great job you yearned for, perhaps you were even elevated to a higher position and the salary is fairly good. But somehow, your morale is sinking with every single day.

Such is termed as demotivation. Demotivation can be defined as the lack of or loss of interest and enthusiasm about your work.

Experts emphasise that poor motivation in the workplace can result in lower levels of engagement, poor communication and lessened output which in the end, can turn the workplace into a toxic environment. But what could be the cause of demotivation anyway?

Job insecurity

According to Ritah Mutoni, the manager of a local cosmetics firm in Kigali, employees who work for unstable companies just invest enough to keep getting their salary while they look elsewhere. They just work for the sake of getting the money as they keep sending their job applications to a number of companies just in case of greener pastures.

She adds that in most cases, such people are eagerly waiting for the next move and keep updating their CVs. But job insecurity can be solved by communicating the company’s way forward for workers to understand, and show them some bit of trust and transparency.

Otherwise, if workers are not sure of whether they would lose their jobs, or not, there is a possibility of working with less or no morale, something that can expose the company to losses, she notes.

Poor communication

"A company that lacks proper communication skills only leaves employees stuck and confused about what to do. It may also be hard to work successfully and collaboratively as a team. Ineffective communication is frustrating,” Mutoni says.

She carries on that lack of appropriate communication breeds increased misunderstandings, less accountability and empowerment.

In most cases, Mutoni points out that employees can miss deadlines and be blamed for that yet the cause is poor communication, in the short or long run, some people may not be able to handle faults yet they are not the cause of the problem, thus losing their motivation.

She adds that the result can spread to the company’s customers too, which could put the company in danger.

Hostile co-workers

For Deogratias Nkurunziza, an entrepreneur in Kigali, of course, you don’t expect to rub shoulders with everyone or trust or create best friends at work, but everyone needs co-workers they can talk with amiably and enjoy their company too.

He says, companies with bullies, arrogant, or gossipers as co-workers, in most cases, affect other workers. They create an environment that doesn’t boost fellow workers to wake up and get excited to report to work, some workers have even quit such jobs.

Nkurunziza carries on that hostile co-workers are mostly attention seekers, blame others for their mistakes. "They can also be hypocrites, energy drainers, procrastinators and so forth, in brief, they are bad news and make work boring and frightening.”

Experts highlight some of the behaviour of toxic workers and these include; backstabbing, criticising, blaming, gossiping, and purposely undermining others, caring only about personal agendas (over team and company goals) and so forth.

Boredom

Nkurunziza stresses that boredom at work has been associated with absence, displeasure, reduced performance on cautious tasks, performance unevenness, and disruption.

Employee boredom, also known as bore-out, is a growing workplace trend and is viewed as a psychological disorder that can lead to burnout and illness.

According to co-authors of the book, ‘Diagnose Boreout,’ Peter Werder and Philippe Rothlin, early symptoms of bore-out include, demotivation, anxiety, and sadness. In the long term, they state, burnout will develop, generating a strong feeling of self-depreciation, which can turn into depression and even physical illness. 

Overworking employees

Experts note that overworking employees burns them out. Managers have a tendency to over-work the best people, which is perplexing for them as it makes them feel as if they are being punished for their great performance.

New research from Stanford showed that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that you don’t get anything out of working more. 

Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but they won’t stay if their job suffocates them in the process. Raises, promotions, and title-changes are all acceptable ways to increase workload.

If managers simply increase workload because people are talented, without changing a thing, these employees will seek another job that gives them what they deserve.