Organizational Behavior Report: Causes of Demotivation (BUS1007)

This report, prepared for BUS1007 Organizational Behavior, investigates the causes of staff demotivation within organizations, specifically focusing on a scenario involving ABC Company. The report identifies key factors such as poor leadership, lack of clear vision, job insecurity, lack of recognition, limited career growth, and job stress as contributors to demotivation. It then proposes several strategies for improvement, including coaching, training, and objective setting, rewarding and recognizing staff members, implementing effective leadership approaches, building a conducive working environment, and redesigning jobs to enhance employee engagement and productivity. The report provides detailed analysis of each cause and strategy, supported by research and academic references, offering actionable insights to improve employee morale and organizational performance. The report emphasizes the significance of addressing both intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of motivation to foster a positive and productive work environment.

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BUS1007 Organizational Behaviour
Student name
(Affiliation Institution)

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Possible causes of staff demotivation in organizations...................................................................3
Poor leadership approach.............................................................................................................3
No clear vision among staff members..........................................................................................3
Job in security, not valued and appreciated.................................................................................4
lack of job opportunities and career growth.................................................................................4
Job stress......................................................................................................................................5
Strategies that can be implemented to improve staff motivation....................................................5
Coaching, training and objective setting strategy........................................................................5
Rewarding and recognition of staff member strategy..................................................................6
Effective leadership approaches, management skills and governance.........................................6
Building relationship and conductive working environment strategy.........................................6
Redesigning of jobs strategy........................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Over the past decades, diverse organizations around the world have experienced
motivation issues which have significantly impacted their productivity. In an organizational
context, Abeysekera and Dawson (2015 p.1) defined motivation at a reason for employee’s
actions, willingness and goals. Demotivation (lack of motivation) in organizations leads to
various consequences such as low productivity, absenteeism and physical and mental health
issues. To address the problems associated with motivation, organizations usually conduct
research to identify the causes of demotivation and later come up with strategies of addressing
demotivation issues. Therefore, the report examines the possible causes of staff demotivation in
organizations and strategies that can be implemented to improve their motivation.
Possible causes of staff demotivation in organizations
According to Hossain and Hossain (2012 p.1)The causes of employees demotivation in
organizations include poor leadership or use of wrong leadership style to get tasks done, job
insecurity, employees not feeling valued or appreciated, overworking, conflict stress, wrong
organizational structure and culture, poor benefits and packages plans, no career vision (career
progress), lack of professional development opportunities.
Poor leadership approach
Poor leadership or inappropriate leadership style is a common cause of employee
demotivation in organizations. A research conducted by Oyedele (2013 p.342) shows that when
there is poor leadership in an organization, employees feel not comfortable with the working
environment which in turn leads to demotivation. In addition, with poor leadership engendering
negative atmosphere in organizations, lack of direction may be experienced which in turn leads
to an adverse issue on motivation, morale and productivity.

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No clear vision among staff members
No clear vision is also another cause of employee demotivation. This is evident by a
research conducted by Daneshkohan et al., (2015 p.153) that showed 80% of employees who had
no career vision and confidence in management skills felt demotivated in their organization and
further spend most of their time on professional networks searching for opportunities elsewhere.
Furthermore, a research conducted by Li, Zhao and Begley (2015 p.1149) also showed that
employees with no idea of where their career will take them, in the long run, look demotivated as
compared to an employee who has short-term and long-term goals to hit.
Job insecurity, not valued and appreciated
Lack of job security is also another cause of employee demotivation in organizations.
Without knowledge of where an employee will be in a year or two or how long will be needed in
the current role, employees feel it hard to be motivated as compared to those with feeling they
have a long-term future with an organization and can see opportunities all around the horizon.
Furthermore, employees not feeling appreciated or valued in organizations can also cause
employee demotivation. A research conducted by Onjoro, Arogo and Embeywa (2015 p.1-14)
shows that an under-valued employee is unlikely to remain demotivated for a long time as
compared to those who are valued and feel appreciated for their contribution to an organization.
Lack of job opportunities and career growth
Lack of developmental opportunities in organizations significantly contributes to
employee demotivation. Without on-going development and training, employees feel their
personal and professional developments are stagnant and therefore the end up feeling
demotivated (Chiboiwa, Samuel and Chipunza, 2010 p.2103). Furthermore, with organizations

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recruiting leaders externally instead of promoting qualified internal employees, staff members’
usually feel their experiences and skills not recognized hence becoming demotivated.
Job stress
Job stress can be an underlying factor toward employees demotivation in an organization.
Job stress can arise due to several factors such as workplace conflicts, overworking, the pressure
to meet deadlines, intimidation, bullying, harassments and discriminations (Bakker, Pechenizkiy
and Sidorova, 2011 p.573-580). Overworking can also be a cause of demotivation. According to
Steiner (2018 p.319), an unrealistic workload is a mark of a fast-track to demotivation, rise in
attrition rates and stress among staff members of varied organizations. Therefore, with leaders
failing to keep a close eye on what is being expected or demanded from employees, under-
achieving or overburdening of employees may be experienced which in turn results to
demotivation. Furthermore, a lack of challenge or enough work for employees can also cause
demotivation due to boredom.
Strategies that can be implemented to improve staff motivation
Diverse strategies can be used to curb the issues of demotivation and further improve the
degree of staff motivation. The strategies that can be used to improve motivation among staff
members include sharing of power with employees, good leadership, regular coaching and
objective setting, redesigning of jobs, training, reviewing of rewards and compensation packages
such as bonuses, allowances and offering of job opportunities (Lunenburg, 2011 p.1-6).
Coaching, training and objective setting strategy
To address the issue of job demotivation due to lack of career vision, organizations can
consider using regular coaching and objective setting to boost the sense of employees job
security. In addition, considering hiring skilled and experienced employees on a permanent basis

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instead of contract and part-time can also enhance career vision of employees which in turn leads
to motivation of staff as employees have long term commitment and engagement with
organizations.
Rewarding and recognition of staff member strategy
To address the demotivation issue of employees not feeling valued or appreciated,
organizations need to give out rewards to recognize achievement of every member in an
organization. Appreciation begins by organizations recognizing that all employees are the most
important asset of a business and further enhancing equality among them regardless of gender,
religion, tribe or race. In addition, offering promotion opportunities as a way of recognizing
employees, improving on compensation and benefits plans such as rewarding of bonuses,
addition of health care benefits, allowances, overtime and salary increase with experience can
also increase the motivation of staff members (Osibanjo, Adeniji, Falola and Heirsmac, 2014
p.62).
Effective leadership approaches, management skills and governance
Implementing an effective leadership style in organization can boost employees’
motivation. For example, if the current leadership style of autocratic is leading to confusion of
roles and employee absenteeism, an organization can consider using other approaches like
transformational leadership that support and empowers employees to improve their productivity.
In addition, these motivation leadership styles that concentrate on employee motivation instead
of productivity can enhance inclusive and flexibility. Therefore, leaders can be in a position of
communicating clearly and providing focus and clarity to their team members, rewarding
hardworking employees and boosting the confidence of employees to increase their motivations
(Sadri and Bowen, 2011 p.44).

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Building relationship and conducive working environment strategy
To handle the issue of job demotivation as a result of job stress, organizations can create
a working environment where workforce conflicts are well managed and harassment or bullying
and discrimination is not tolerated. Furthermore, there should be an effective relationship among
the employees which can be enhanced through team building and effective leadership. In
addition, with organizations giving staff opportunities to express their concerns anonymously
without fear of complaining about a leader or a workmate and carrying surveys and appraisal to
identify any problems, employees feel they are working in a free and fair environment and
therefore their motivation significantly improves and they become more productive (Tangirala
and Ramanujam, 2012 p.251)
Redesigning of a jobs strategy
Redesigning of jobs is also an effective strategy that organizations can use to increase
employee motivation. According to Zohar, Huang, Lee and Robertson (2015 p.84) when the
same routines are performed continuously for long, they become monotonous leading to burnout
which significantly reduces employee motivation. Therefore, redesigning jobs and creating new
experiences of staff members can assist in the motivation of staff members as well as improving
their productivity. The suggested ways in which organizations can redesign jobs to enhance
motivation include job enlargement, job rotation and job enrichment. Job enlargement boost
motivation of staff as increasing the number of tasks reduces the monotony of a job (Griffin and
McMahan, 2013 p.33). Job rotation also improves motivation as assigning employees different
tasks or jobs on a temporary basis increases their skills, experiences and employees feel
motivated to learn new things (Kaymaz, 2010 p.69). With job enrichment, employees have more

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authority and responsibilities; their skills match’ employees’ abilities and therefore they become
motivated to do what they like and matches their education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although demotivation is becoming a complex issue in organizations,
recognizing its essence is one way towards taking appropriate approaches to maintain positivity.
This report has discussed the causes of employee demotivation and strategies that can be used by
organizations to improve staff motivation. The common causes of employee demotivation are
related to work feeling and environment indicating that demotivation can be caused by both
intrinsic and extrinsic aspects. Implementing effective strategies for curbing demotivation issues
ensures a high degree of productivity, employee retention and sustainable working environment.
Organizations can use strategies such as sharing power with employees, increasing job
opportunities, building an effective relationship, redesigning of jobs and reviewing reward and
compensation systems in order to increase motivation.

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References
Abeysekera, L. and Dawson, P., 2015. Motivation and cognitive load in the flipped classroom:
definition, rationale and a call for research. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(1),
pp.1-14.
Daneshkohan, A., Zarei, E., Mansouri, T., Maajani, K., Ghasemi, M.S. and Rezaeian, M., 2015.
Factors affecting job motivation among health workers: a study from Iran. Global journal of
health science, 7(3), p.153.
Li, C., Zhao, H. and Begley, T.M., 2015. Transformational leadership dimensions and employee
creativity in China: A cross-level analysis. Journal of Business Research, 68(6), pp.1149-1156.
Onjoro, V., Arogo, R.B. and Embeywa, H.E., 2015. Leadership Motivation and Mentoring Can
Improve Efficiency of a Classroom Teacher and Workers in Institutions. Journal of Education
and Practice, 6(15), pp.1-14.
Oyedele, L.O., 2013. Analysis of architects' demotivating factors in design firms. International
Journal of Project Management, 31(3), pp.342-354.
Steiner, S., 2018. Burnout Culture Shift: Strategies and Techniques for Preventing and
Addressing Library Worker Fatigue and Demotivation. International Information & Library
Review, 50(4), pp.319-327.
Zohar, D., Huang, Y.H., Lee, J. and Robertson, M.M., 2015. Testing extrinsic and intrinsic
motivation as explanatory variables for the safety climate–safety performance relationship

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among long-haul truck drivers. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and
behaviour, 30, pp.84-96.
Hossain, M.K. and Hossain, A., 2012. Factors affecting employee’s motivation in the fast food
industry: The case of KFC UK Ltd. Research Journal of Economics, business and ICT, 5.
Chiboiwa, M.W., Samuel, M.O. and Chipunza, C., 2010. An examination of employee retention
strategy in a private organisation in Zimbabwe. African journal of business management, 4(10),
pp.2103-2109.
Lunenburg, F.C., 2011. Goal-setting theory of motivation. International journal of management,
business, and administration, 15(1), pp.1-6.
Osibanjo, A.O., Adeniji, A.A., Falola, H.O. and Heirsmac, P.T., 2014. Compensation packages:
a strategic tool for employees' performance and retention. Leonardo Journal of Sciences, (25),
pp.65-84.
Sadri, G. and Bowen, C.R., 2011. Meeting employee requirements: Maslow's hierarchy of needs
is still a reliable guide to motivating staff. Industrial engineer, 43(10), pp.44-49.
Griffin, R.W. and McMahan, G.C., 2013. Motivation through job design. In Organizational
Behavior (pp. 33-54). Routledge.
Kaymaz, K., 2010. The effects of job rotation practices on motivation: A research on managers
in the automotive organizations. Business and Economics Research Journal, 1(3), pp.69-85.

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Bakker, J., Pechenizkiy, M. and Sidorova, N., 2011, December. What's your current stress level?
Detection of stress patterns from GSR sensor data. In 2011 IEEE 11th international conference
on data mining workshops (pp. 573-580). IEEE.