Diabetes Motivatus – The Silent Killer of Motivation

KSS KANHAIYA
BE, DCPA, MBA, MA(App. Psy.), PhD(Mgmt.)
CE (I), FIE (I), MIMA, MISCA, LMCSI, LMIIMM
kss.kanhaiya@gmail.com
http://ksskanhaiya.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/kss.kanhaiya
A revolver is a potentially lethal weapon. It can be used in two ways –
blow the butt with brute force on the head, or, put a bullet and shoot. While
the former method reduces the revolver to a log; prudence of the user,
propriety of use as well as the precision, efficiency and effectiveness stem
from the latter. It is the cartridge that determines the quality of
performance out of the potential of the weapon.
A manager in charge of high potential individuals is like a sergeant with
a revolver – having the brute force of authority as well as the magazine of
cartridges that is, the motivators at work.
The power and methods of motivation have been subject matter of print
worth several square kilometres of forest. Let us look at those cracks that
allow entry to the viruses that eventually cause death of motivation of
otherwise motivated high-potential employees – silently, without showing
immediate signs on the outputs of routine tasks.
• Leaving the employee to fend for herself: The tasks are defined,
resources are entrusted and then the employee is left alone with her
team. Sounds like independence. But, as any parent knows,
independence and indifference are narrowly separated and if the
independence is so bland as to be perceived as indifference; the
employee feels neglected, isolated and unimportant. She may
continue working as automated teller machine but not as your friendly
banker.
• Over-guidance: If the employee is expected to seek guidance for
every step she takes on her turf, she would start crawling rather than
walking – and finally lose the strength of her knees! Interference and
bossing around by the boss in the name of guidance may, over time,
yield the same results as repeated slaps in the name of friendly pats.
• Denying participation in decision making or planning: It is the
boss who has to decide the courses of action and plan the activities.
The employee knows it and so the denial does not qualify her to
complain but she feels being treated as a dumb piece of cog in the
wheel – qualifying her not to put any extra driving force! A little say
that may even finally get rejected at least presumably after thought
and preferably after some discussion makes the employee feel
involved and also serves to sharpen her potentials.
• Reducing the responsibilities: To ease workload of her existing
team, you can shift some of her responsibilities to other team. Work

By Dr. KSS Kanhaiya, First Published in 2003: Page 1 of 3

 reorganisation and team size rationalisations are necessary but if the
genuineness of reasons is not made apparent to the employee, she
may feel like having been cornered.
• Stalling the enlargement of responsibilities: The boss may absorb
the enlargement of responsibilities of an employee. The boss may
discharge the new responsibilities herself by using the resources that
came along. Or, the resource may be so rationed that the employee
finds it difficult to discharge the new responsibilities without seeking
continuous help. It may also happen that when resources are
available, the boss exercises control and when there is a crunch;
responsibility is passed on to the subordinate citing that order.
• Ignoring work done: When something is done whether within or
beyond one's tasks and the boss appears to have ignored that –
either by not appreciating or by not providing some guidance – this
works as the hint for not doing anything beyond task or as
confirmation of indifference towards the normal task – as the case
may be.
• Downplaying the initiatives: This not only consists of ignoring the
initiatives, but also may involve other subtle forms like rejecting or
infinitely delaying requests for suggestions, declining, unduly delaying
or unjustly delegating evaluation of innovative suggestions or
initiatives. These also reduce the opportunities for improvement in the
capabilities of employee.
• Giving undue importance to a co-worker: When a co-worker
receives more importance, the concerned employee would evaluate
the situation and try to improve her own performance and gain
importance. However, if the employee's evaluation results in the
realisation of unjustifiability of over-importance to the co-worker, she
will silently recede into a cocoon.
• Failure to contain ‘workplace poetics’: Every work group has
some employees who do not fit into the class whose silent
demotivation we are discussing here. Some of such employees are
otherwise smart in improving their image by diminishing the shines of
stars by use of some 'poetry'. Successful bosses discourage such
poets of the workplace so that the importance is not misappropriated
resulting in involvement of undeserving ones in decision-making that
impacts both the quality of decision and motivation of others. Some
examples of such poetic expressions are:

The Air Conditioner Works in X's cubicle.

X is highly competent, just if organisation could find a use for that.

X and Y look after <<combined and usually moderated list of their

individual responsibilities>>.
• Failure to contain ‘credit kleptomaniacs': Even in these times, you
may have some employees who are so loyally engrossed in work –

By Dr. KSS Kanhaiya, First Published in 2003: Page 2 of 3

 behind the stage – that they may not be ‘blowing their own trumpets’.
Some smart employees are efficient in stealing credits for work done
by these people. If the boss fails in containing these thieves, over time
the backstage workers may become complacent and the organisation
suffers while the thief may succeed in getting another treasury to lift
from.
• Encouraging the employee's reportees to bypass her: Sometimes
an employee's reportee may receive instructions from her boss. The
reportee may feel more important and comfortable in working like
direct subordinate of the boss's boss. If the concerned employee has
become the boss of her reportees on the basis of considerations other
than capability, her boss may require using this technique. But, if the
employee is a high potential one, spoiling the discipline of her team
will also spoil her motivation and belongingness with the team.
• Working as Jack or Hammer for an employee: Sometimes an
employee may succeed in using the boss as her jack to lift herself or
hammer to hurt her colleagues. This is usually possible for the
employee if she may spot some vulnerability of the boss – some
human weakness that may be. When her purpose is served, the tool
too is thrown. And in the process, some high potential employee gets
hammered. Thus both the weak boss and the organisation lose at the
end of day.
• Business with complete 'business-like' communication:
Maintaining completely official and to-the-point communication may
look like improving the gravity of the boss but may deprive the
employee of her social need and may impact her motivation at least
for the duration when this state of communication is in place. A worse
situation involves the boss communicating with employee through the
latter's co-workers or reportees (even worse!).
We are talking about slow poisons for the motivation of high potential,
motivated employees. In case of such employees, none of the above
directly or immediately impacts the work at hand but serves to slowly
extinguish the fire in their bellies to contribute beyond the charted
assignment and remain an associate of the organisation rather than a
servant on the payroll.
Efficient managers understand that any sumo can convert a revolver to
a log but reconditioning it back may require lot more skill and effort – if
possible at all, that is.
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By Dr. KSS Kanhaiya, First Published in 2003: Page 3 of 3