Directorate of distance education master of business administration

De-motivation
 
De-motivation is both insidious and debilitating. Disappearance 
of or reduction in motivation levels is called de-motivation. De-motivated 
employees would prove a costly liability to an organization. Being able to 
spot that people are not happy in what they are doing is a prerequisite for 
motivating them. Eliminating negative attitudes as well as understanding 
individual needs are the key components in the process of motivating 
people to work better. When jobs become too specialized or divided 
into narrow, minute tasks, boredom and frustration could begin. Such 
frustrations arise out of disappointment or irritation at being thwarted 
from one’s goals or wants. 
Inadequacies in the QWL factors could lead to further de-
motivation. Delay in handling grievances expressed repeatedly would 

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take de-motivation to alarming levels and employees might begin to 
rebel strongly at this stage. Since all managers have to get the work 
done through others, motivating these significant others is the key 
to their effectiveness. Hypocrisy, lack of transparency, unfairness or 
discrimination, frequent changes in the environment, and substandard 
quality of products or services sold by an organization could be powerful 
de-motivators. 
A strong de-motivating factor in manufacturing organizations 
involves complete compartmentalization of individual’s work into 
watertight zones, makes the person treated like a piece of equipment or 
tool that performs only one job. Many a time one finds a total mismatch 
between the words and the actions of a supervisor or manager. In order 
to be soothing to the employee, assurances are given about something 
which cannot be carried out. Such hypocrisy and evilness noticed in the 
management is one of the strongest de-motivators. A typical hypocrisy 
would be observed in an organization that is inviting “feedback” with 
“openness” from the employees, but in fact, using it as a tool to identify 
the potential rebels in the workforce.