Engineers who need help, read on!
You might have heard the old adage ‘one spoilt apple can spoil the whole basket’. In this case, we are talking about one demotivated, beleaguered sales engineer. Just like the spoilt Apple, he can have a negative effect on the entire organization. Thus, it is important to identify the causes of employee demotivation and chalk out possible solutions.
Demotivation is contagious: even one demotivated engineer who constantly cribs about work or other undesirable factors can quickly succeed in demotivating others too. Organizations are prone to the danger of demotivation at all times. So, it’s important to be aware of it and recognize and tackle it without delay.
To tackle demotivation effectively, an engineering organization must know the reason behind this lackluster attitude. If a boss or colleague can help motivate such a co-worker, it could go a long way in boosting the employee’s morale and motivating him to be optimistic and have a positive attitude.
Reasons Behind the Demotivation of an Employee:
- Lack of Appreciation: An engineer feels unappreciated for his efforts.
- Too Much Work: An engineer feels overburdened with a disproportionate chunk of work, which renders him unable to perform his duties well and punctually.
- Lack of Clarity in Work: An engineer flounders at work due to a lack of clarity on his various tasks.
- Favoritism: These refer to unfair practices that favor one worker over another.
- Mistrust: This deals with an employee resorting to micromanaging everything, displaying mistrust in a co-worker’s capabilities.
- Miscommunication: Free flow of information is withheld or information is provided only on a “need-to-know” basis. This can be demotivating as it proves that the boss or organization does not fully trust its employees to share all available information on a project.
How to Save the Employee from Demotivation?
Saving the employee from demotivation is the responsibility of his immediate manager or supervisor. Let’s have a look at what they should do.
- Listen and Get Involved: Listen to the said, and the unsaid. Body language can speak volumes about the atmosphere in an organization, read it and do the needful, if it needs correction.
- Promote Teamwork: Teamwork is the way to go, pitting one employee against the other can only be counterproductive.
- Praise and Encourage: Simple praise and words of encouragement for a task well-done are always welcome.
- Give Information Freely: Let your employees know your plans and change of plans, if any.
- Appreciate and Acknowledge: Appreciation of a task and acknowledgement of efforts put in are wonderful morale boosters.
- Show Concern and Extend Help Whenever Possible: This makes life easier and better, both for the employee and the organization.
Motivation Tips for Engineers
For the engineer falling out of love in your career, it’s normal to question if you still want to go to work the next day. The work, no matter how much of routine it is from the start, has become not like what it is before. The drive to become an engineer has been sucked out. What do you do?
The key to reignite the passion you used to have as an engineer is about five things: right mission, right job, right boss, right team, and right attitude. The first four are ultimately about context and dependent on others; the last one is solely about you.
Right mission
Be reminded if the company or organization you are in has the same mission as you do. Or if there are still developmental opportunities that would motivate you to work further.
Right job
Is the work you are in aligned with your strengths or roles you want to pursue? Check if it is. One can lose motivation if you feel that the job is not really what you wanted in the first place.
Right boss
They say that engineers resign because of terrible bosses. Analyze if you are ready to be in that league.
Right team
Who you work with also matters. The coordination with other engineers and staff are indicators of motivation, depending on how you deal with them and them to you.
Right attitude
This factor can be guaranteed by the engineer alone. How you treat matters at work is anchored with your attitude, which further affects your level of motivation towards work.
