The Truth About Managing People: Proven Insights to Get the Best from Your Team, Fourth Edition

Truth 14. Why Many Workers Aren’t Motivated at Work Today

I often hear experienced managers complain that “people just aren’t motivated to work anymore.” If this is true, the fault is with managers and organizational practices, not the employees! When employees lack motivation, the problem almost always lies in one of five areas: selection, ambiguous goals, the performance appraisal system, the organization’s reward system, or the manager’s inability to shape the employee’s perception of the appraisal and reward systems.

If employees aren’t motivated, the fault is with managers and organizational practices, not the employees!

The best way to understand employee motivation is to think of it as being dependent on three relationships. When all three ...