We are back from spring break, and you are saying to yourself, "Yippee!" Spirits are bound to be high after a good week of rest for some. However, at your first group meeting, you notice that members of your team are looking down... very down. The demotivation from a few days ago is still there, unfortunately. Maybe they need a few more weeks? After all, the days are getting longer in the sun, and with that pile of work, the show must go on!
If you tell yourself that, I can understand you, but do you know the real effects of demotivating your team? Here are three important ones.
#1 Decreased quality of work and/or product
When we are demotivated, we tend to be less alert and creative, which can lead to more mistakes in the production of a product and a decline in the quality of the work we do. The decrease in motivation also affects our engagement and therefore our willingness to be creative and innovative in our environment. This is exactly the opposite of what we want!
#2 The "rotten apple effect
Have you ever had a rotten apple in a basket of really good fruit? At first it has no effect, but after a few days the good fruit is contaminated and the whole basket is lost.
After all, an employee who is reluctant to come to work or sluggish to make progress also affects his or her colleagues, which can quickly lead to general demotivation.
#3 Increased turnover rate
Would you like to work in the medium to long term in a team where the atmosphere is gloomy, dark or negative? Of course not. And your employees feel the same way! Demotivation will have a negative impact on the churn of your team, starting with your best talent.
Also, did you know that it costs between 50% and 200% of an employee's annual salary to leave? In the current economic climate, with the well-known labor shortage, the last thing we want is to increase our turnover rate.
I assure you that motivation does not grow constantly, but fluctuates depending on the period, the projects of your organization and the personal life of your employees. Your job as a leader, therefore, is not to try to keep motivation at its highest level throughout the year, but to take concrete action to ensure that you are able to understand the current dynamics and act positively accordingly when it drops.
P.S.
An action plan does not always require a large budget and dozens of man-hours, several concrete actions (and little or no cost) can be implemented in your environment.
So is it good to give you the motivation you need to take action?
Sonia Kwemi,
Cheffe Ressources humaine & Médiatrice