8 Surefire Ways to Demotivate Your Employees

Ever notice how a new employees enthusiasm eventually wears off? In 85% of companies, employees morale significantly drops off after their first six months on the job, according to a survey from Harvard Management Update. For the most part, enthusiasm is determined by work environment, and it can be fostered or hindered by you the boss. Employee motivation experts say the best way to keep employee enthusiasm moving forward is to first, do no harm. At a minimum, dont do anything that demotivates your workers. Check out eight demotivators below.

1. Public criticism.
Pointing out a workers mistake in front of others rarely yields a good response. Though some managers think public reproach keeps everyone else from making the same mistakeit usually just makes everyone feel bad.

2. Failing to provide praise.

If employees feel like their hard work goes unnoticed, theyll start to wonder why theyre working so hard in the first place. Be sure to offer praise, both privately and publicly. Even small things, like a thank-you card or a good job email work. (See also: How to Thank Employees When You Cant Afford a Bonus .)

3. Not following up.

Have you ever solicited ideas, asked what employees think about a policy, or asked your team to draft a proposal? If so, be sure to relay the results, even if the ideas or proposals dont go anywhere. Asking employees for input without acknowledging it shows a lack of respect.

4. Give unachievable goals or deadlines.

Once employees realize they wont be able to get something done, theyll think, Whats the point? Im going to fail. Provide goals and deadlines that are challenging, but not impossible.

5. Not explaining your actions or sharing company data.

Just because you hold the cards doesnt mean you should hide them. Explaining the big management decisions will help employees understand your perspectiveand theyll respect you for it. Likewise, sharing key company data such as revenue and profits validates staff contributions.

6. Implied threats.
If an employee is producing sub-par work, its OK to let them know your expectations. But its not OK to threaten their jobespecially if youre threatening the entire team in a public setting. A do this or else attitude often has the opposite effect when it comes to motivation.

7. Not honoring creative thinking and problem solving.

When employees take initiative to improve somethinga company process or an individual task, for instancedont blow it off. Instead, take a good, hard look at their suggestion. Dont ignore it, or you risk losing that employees creativity in the future.

8. Micromanagement
Perhaps the worst demotivator is micromanaging. Employees need to feel trusted and valued to succeed and micromanaging communicates the opposite.

How to Thank Employees When You Can't Afford to Give a Bonus

The end-of-year bonus can be a tricky thing for small-business owners. Let's say last year you had exceptional profits and shared the wealth in the form of cash bonuses. This year perhaps business didn't go as well, and you really can't afford those bonuses. Even if your employees know that you didn't make as much this year, they still may be counting on a similar perk. The unpredictability of profits from year to year is a main reason that many small-business owners avoid holiday bonus altogether. Read on for tips about non-monetary ways to thank your employees when you can't give bonuses this year.

Let Your Staff Know the Status of the Bonus

This topic may be the elephant in the office. While few employees would come out and say that they're expecting a bonus, many of them will expect a bonus, especially if you've given bonuses with any consistency in the past.

Be up front about it. Send a memo or make an announcement in a meeting. Otherwise, you may have employees who think they didn't get a bonus while other people did. While this may be an uncomfortable announcement, and you may have to endure a little grumbling, be transparent about the reasons you can't give a bonus this year. Perhaps your employees aren't aware that the rent for your office space doubled this year, your vendors have increased their prices and so on. Sharing this information will help allay hard feelings.

Also, let your staff know that you still value their contributions, no matter how it translated to your bottom line. And assure them that you'll use the season to celebrate everyone's hard work.

Throw a Holiday Party

Throwing a nice holiday party for your employees might take some of the sting out of not receiving bonuses. Though if it's too nice, your staff might wonder why you didn't take that money and give them bonuses instead. On the whole, a staff party will likely cost much less than giving monetary gifts to all of your staff, and you can still go beyond the usual coffee and cake routine to make the party memorable. You could rent out a room in a restaurant or have something catered in your office. If you really want to help employees forget about the lack of bonuses, hold the party early in the day and let them go home early with full pay.

Hold a Contest
If you're worried about the cost of giving across-the-board bonuses, you could consolidate your available funds with a holiday contest for employees. For example, if all of your employees are sales staff, then you could give a cash prize to the person who picked up the most new clients in December. If you're going the contest route, just make sure that all of your employees can participate, and pick up consolation prizes to acknowledge everyone's contribution. A gift raffle at your holiday party is also a good way to stretch limited funds. You could have one or two grand prizes, a few runner-ups and enough consolation prizes so everyone goes home with at least a good box of chocolates.

Partner with Other Businesses to Give Employee Gifts

Think of all the other small companies with whom you do business or are on a friendly basis. Do they provide any products or services that could make nice gifts for your staff? If so, see if you can arrange a trade or some sort of discount with each other. Just make sure that they offer something your employees will truly appreciate. If you give everyone in your office a pen, for instance, this could be more insulting than giving nothing at all.

Gift Cards
While a bonus check for $50 dollars may not seem like much, a $50 dollar coffee gift card, which would give a person free coffee breaks for a month, could put a smile on an employee's face. While still a modest thank-you, gift cards chosen based on employee's tastes and interests will show your thoughtfulness. (Obviously, you wouldn't get the coffee card for the employee who comes in with a fruit smoothie every morning.) Many of your employees are probably with you as opposed to a big corporation because they value and admire the ethics of small business. And they understand the monetary fluctuations to which small businesses are sometimes susceptible. If you treat your employees with respect and acknowledge their hard work throughout the year, then this probably means more to them than a bonus check. With a little creativity, you can find ways to make their holiday season a little brighter without breaking the bank.

Micromanagement is Mismanagement: Are You a Micromanager?

Most people who have been in the workforce any length of time have occasionally been exposed to bosses who micromanage. The micromanager is the manager who must personally make every decision, take a lead role in the performance of every significant task and, in extreme cases, dictate every small step the workers take. To many employees the micromanager is, in modern parlance, a control freak. The micromanager hovers over people who are trying to get their work done and rarely, if ever, seriously considers their ideas and opinions. The only "original" thinking the micromanager recognizes is his or her own. Micromanagement is readily recognized by employees, but most micromanagers don't think of themselves as micromanagers. Rather, they usually believe they're practicing good management. The micromanager is customarily authoritarian in outlook, taking the job quite seriously, accepting personal responsibility for everything that's done and generally following an approach that says, in effect, "The buck stops here." Most of the time the micromanager also firmly believes the adage that "If you want something done well, you've got to do it yourself." The micromanager takes essential management practices to extremes and interferes with employees' ability to do their jobs properly, while creating undue stress for them. Outstanding examples are evident in the area of performance feedback. All employees need regular feedback on performance, though some need more detailed feedback more frequently than others. From the micromanager, however, feedback tends to be constant and detailed and often excessively focused on procedural minutia rather than on overall performance, quality and results. In no other area are the shortcomings of the micromanager more evidentor more damagingthan in the practice of delegation. Delegation is a primary management skill, essential to effective management,

but the micromanager seems unable to delegate properly. Concerning delegation, the micromanager: Cannot delegate effectively or delegate at all Often hands out only the easy, boring or dirty tasks while delegating nothing of interest or importance May delegate, but put the employee in a position of deciding nothing of significance without prior approval

May hand out work, supposedly delegating, but hover instead, providing detailed direction, dictating methods rather than providing proper preparation, making the employee responsible for results and not allowing him or her to figure anything out and learn by doing May hand out a task, but pull it back at the first sign of trouble, failing to provide the employee with a condition essential to growth and development: the reasonable freedom to fail. Micromanagement is damaging to employees and eventually to the manager. In addition to creating stress and discontent among employees, the micromanager's style has two critical effects: It inhibits employee development. No effort is made to challenge employees with learning situations. The micromanager delegates nothing of consequence, thus depriving employees of opportunity for growth. Because the micromanager often punishes mistakes, employees learn to hide their mistakes and avoid taking risks. The micromanagement style creates "yes men" or "yes women," as employees discover it's easiest and safest to go along with the manager. It limits the manager's promotional possibilities. The manager who is perceived as poor at delegation is often not considered for promotion to a level where delegation takes on even greater importance. Also, a manager who has done nothing to develop one or more potential successors is usually a poor candidate for promotion. Consider, in addition to impaired promotional possibilities, other effects on the micromanager. The micromanager tries to do it all, only to eventually discover that this isn't possible. But on the way to that discovery the micromanager regularly works extra hours and can frequently be found at work on weekends or other scheduled days off. The micromanager also eventually discovers that work quality diminishes and that turnover increases as the better employees respond to the absence of challenge by looking for greener pastures. The micromanager is constantly flirting with the hazards of overwork and the problems of a demotivated work group. It helps to remember at all times that a manager is there to ensure that the work gets done as effectively and efficiently as possible. If the manager is attempting to dictate all actions and otherwise trying to control the employees' every move, the group will be neither as efficient, nor effective as it could be under rational, enlightened management. Micromanagement is mismanagement, and under it, the manager, the employees and the business all suffer. Micromanagement is just one of several surefire ways to demotivate employees . Make sure you avoid these deterrents and work to maintain employee enthusiasm. Learn How to Avoid Taking on Too Much

6 Ways to Motivate Employees by Using Little to No Money

Keeping your employees happy and motivated is a key ingredient to running your small business. After all, 13% of employee separations are voluntaryand its usually the best and brightest ones who move on the fastest. But your small shop doesnt have the means to pay inflated salaries or fund the benefits of a Fortune 500 company, so how can you breed loyalty and good feeling, not to mention hold on to your top workers? Consider the following six examples from small business owners across the country.

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Drum Up Win-Wins. When Matt Hudgins needs to cut costs at his Atlanta-based financial advisory firm, Mosaic Wealth Management LLC, he asks employees for their input. Who better to know where to cut the fat than the employees? he says. To motivate them, he offers 10% of the savings that are realized. (The same idea could work with business expansion proposals.) Fulfill Their Dreams. Bettina Hein, CEO of the Boston-based video production company Pixability, asked her three employees to list as many of their lifelong dreams as they could during a 20-minute meeting. She then pledged to fulfill one of these dreams within 90 days of the New Year. One employee wanted to witness a shuttle launch, so Hein sent him to Cape Canaveral for $350. You wouldnt believe how happy this made them all, and it cost me very, very little money and a bit of effort, she says. Get Personal. When an employee of Rex Direct Net Inc., an Internet marketing firm in Cherry Hill, N.J., reaches a work-related goal or goes through a significant life event, the CEO acknowledges it with a handwritten, personal note. Making the time to communicate your satisfaction can motivate employees who thrive on recognition and attention from the boss, says Jennine Rexon, CEO. Its a small step that can yield loyalty from your employees. Sweat the Small Stuff. Mike Lieberman of Square 2 Marketing in Warrington, Pa., says a handful of small, but important things motivate his employees. Every quarter, he hires a limo to take his team into nearby Philadelphia for dinner and an event. On Fridays at 3 p.m., employees enjoy an in-office happy hour thanks to a stocked office bar. And he regularly holds video game tournamentsin the officeto help the team blow off some steam. Do What the Big Guys Cant. Owning a small business means you can be more flexible with employees personal needs than a large corporation. Kathleen Henson, who owns Henson Consulting Inc. in Wheaton, Ill., allowed one of her employees to set up a portable crib and bouncy seat in her office during the months after her maternity leave. Traditional work environments can be taxing on families, so creating a work setting that puts family first is the cornerstone of my business, Henson says. Appeal to the ego. Not all rewards are tangible. Public praise is often a powerful motivator. When employees make successful choices, let everyone know. Recognize and share behavior that results

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in money-saving ideas attracting the most new customers, or even healthy behavior. Flattery can also be contagious. An "Employee of the Month" designation, for example, can get employees' competitive juices flowing and motivate them to make work harder. If these examples dont spark any ideas for your company, consider going back to the basics. All employees want is to be treated with respect, says Jim Gellas of Pictopia, a photo stock shop in Emeryville, Calif. Funny how often this can be taken for granted, but yelling at, insulting and demonstrating a lack of appreciation can be strong de-motivators, says Gellas. Said differently, employees really respond when they feel appreciated, their feedback is considered and their efforts valued.

How to Delegate Effectively

One of the toughest hurdles for any business owner is relinquishing control. However, effective delegation requires you to assign or outsource work that is diverting too much time from your most important jobgrowing your business. It can be tempting to hang on to certain roles, particularly those related to finance, but routine duties like overseeing inventory and invoices can be time suckers. Failure to delegate is one of the key reasons small companies fail to grow, says Liz Pielow, an HR consultant at STRATiCOM, a small business management consulting company in Minneapolis. If youre spending more than half your time on trivial tasks that arent moving the business forward, she recommends honing your delegation techniques. Rather than blindly farming out your work, make sure your approach contains six key ingredients: Balanced hiring. The first thing I would do is hire people who complement your skill set rather than mimic it, Pielow says. If youre a big-picture person, find somebody whos detail-oriented. Then you can stop struggling with projects that are better suited for someone else. Training and mentoring. According to Pielow, a common mistake made by small business owners is delegating tasks without sufficient training. The advantage to training people ahead of time is they begin to understand your thought process as an owner, she says. From complex proposals to simple tasks like answering customer emails and phone calls, be sure that people are properly trained to handle each task theyre assignedand in a way thats right for your small business.

Communication of purpose. When delegating a job, explain how it fits in with the larger purpose of the company. For example, a business owner could hire someone to install and manage a new computer system, and assume that the IT person doesnt need an overall understanding of the business. Not so, says Pielow. She suggests telling the person, Were planning 20% growth next year, we have five key customers identified, we plan to start handling orders on such and such a date, and were not going be able to handle the growth with our existing system. When people understand their role in the business, theyre more likely to alert you if they need additional support or information. Outsourcing. If there arent enough duties to justify hiring a new employee, consider outsourcing them to an independent contractor. Accountants, marketing specialists and Web designers can free you up to focus on fine-tuning your product or service, pricing, networking and other aspects of your business. Just be sure youre communicating the same information to the contractorpurpose, timeline and expectationsthat you would to someone in your own company. Follow up. Check in regularly to make sure the tasks youve assigned are on track, and be available to answer questions. If youre not used to delegating, it may take extra effort to stay on top of projects without being overbearing. One of the biggest mistakes people make once they turn that project over to someone is micromanaging, says Pielow. You should be concerned with the results youre getting, not how the results are getting there. Through occasional meetings and ongoing communication you can ensure everyone has the tools they need to do their job, leaving you the ease of mind to do your own.

How to Avoid Taking on Too Much

What does your schedule look like today? Is it so jam-packed that you don't have room for lunch, family time or even a bathroom break? Business owners often toil long hours, take little vacation time and work during their time off, according to a recent study by Staples, Inc., which polled leaders of small businesses on their work-life habits. More than half of those surveyed said they worked more than 40 hours a week--with some working a double week of 80 or more hours--just to keep up. And for many, the line between company and personal time is fuzzy: One in five (21 percent) work while eating dinner. More than a third (37 percent) couldn't remember their last vacation. One in five (18 percent) admit to reading work-related e-mail and documents while in the bathroom, and nearly half (49) percent work while driving. Sound familiar? With increasing demands in the marketplace from consumers, the Internet and globalization, a long day every now and then is almost a guarantee for most successful business owners. But does it have to be this way all the time? Packing your schedule to the hilt may offer a short-term solution to getting work finished, managing responsibilities and handling growth spurts. But it can also generate diminishing returns for you and your business over time, especially if it makes you feel rushed, cranky, distracted, forgetful or simply burned out. So, how do you tame the overwhelming beast that is your schedule? Here are some suggestions: Delegate. If you handle every detail of every facet of your business from marketing and sales to accounting and HR, it may be time to hand off some of these responsibilities to your most trusted and qualified

employees. Even if not knowing every detail of what is going on in your business drives you crazy, you may still need to let go. While staying informed about all parts of your business is good, micromanaging and getting bogged down in minutiae will only keep you from focusing on the big picture--and getting the most important tasks accomplished. And just because you want to be good at everything doesn't mean you are. Focusing on your strengths in the business and delegating the rest to others will free up your schedule and make it fun again. Just say no. New projects, accounts, customers and clients are all welcome additions for your business, provided that you're able to give them the attention they deserve. If you want to grow, you must take advantage of new opportunities, but unless you set priorities, you can spread yourself so thin that it will eventually sabotage your productivity. Be willing to say no sometimes to extra work that won't enhance your bottom line or new clients whose goals don't match yours. Give yourself permission to end projects or relationships that drain you and your staff. Strive to get things done in a timely manner, but also set deadlines from the outset that you can realistically meet. Practice balance. Sometimes marathon days--even marathon weeks--are necessary to wrap up a project, prepare for an event or handle unexpected hurdles, but these should be the exception, not the rule. Studies show that Americans spend more time working than people in any other industrialized country. Being a workaholic may have been necessary in the early days of your business, but continuing to operate that way will eventually take its toll on your passion and creativity. Make room for other interests and people in your life, besides your business and your employees. When scheduling your day, allow some flexibility for interruptions, surprises, rejuvenation and relaxation. When the responsibilities seem endless, give yourself starting and stopping times and try to stick to them as often as possible. Take a vacation. When you get so frustrated that you dread doing things that used to bring you satisfaction, or when you are spinning your wheels, getting out of the office is usually the best option. If burnout has gotten the best of you, a weeklong vacation to the beach or the mountains can be an invigorating escape that will give you the clarity and inspiration you need to reclaim your productivity. Sometimes the best ideas come when you're doing nothing. If you can't afford to get away just yet, take a mini-vacation-- whether this means knocking off early to catch a concert, going out of town for the weekend without your BlackBerry or taking a five-minute break to stretch or chat with an employee about a subject besides work. Hire or ask for help. If your business is growing, and you have the budget, hiring more employees can be the best way to get a handle your schedule. Sure, this means you'll have more staff to manage and people to pay, but you'll thank yourself down the road when you feel comfortable enough to take a long lunch with a business prospect or spend a few days at a workshop you've always wanted to attend in another city--and leave the day-to-day duties to someone else until you return. And sometimes bringing in fresh blood is just what you need to help you solve a problem or brainstorm ideas from a new angle. Finding ways to partner with other businesses so that you can help each other accomplish mutual goals is another way to keep your schedule from turning into a monster.