I have had the pleasure of working for organizations of nearly all size and shape, ranging from solo ventures to 3-member teams to a few hundred employees, and all the way up to 30,000+ soldiers marching to a common tune.

Since my work has revolved around Services, the one thing that has been common to these stints is People. And, having seen a wide variety of industries and functions, I’ve had a ring-side view of how organizations motivate – and demotivate – their most important resource.

Here are some of the ways I’ve encountered in my journey, that result in employees being demotivated…

• Not providing clarity on what constitutes “success”
• Waiting for the annual appraisal cycles to provide much-needed feedback and course-correction to team members
• Playing favorites within the team, or hiring old favorites from your past employment, with little regard for competence
• Not creating a strong Reward & Recognition program to encourage performance achievement
• Hiring outsiders at senior levels (and at commensurate pay hikes), at the cost of ignoring equally-competent loyal employees
• Offices offering no transportation options / no cafetarias (especially relevant for large enterprises and those having poor access)
• Managers promoting unqualified resources for positions that require technical competence, without including the necessary checks and balances (this one is especially demotivating for those who are competent!)

Needless to add, any one who is reading this and cares about doing it right, should do the exact opposite.

If you are an entrepreneur, build your organization the right way, and don’t compromise by hiving off “people management” to some trainee or junior resource. If you are a mid-level manager, watch out for such danger signals in your own enterprise, and try to compensate for what you see around you. If you are in a position of leadership, you can take measures to undo the damage this causes to your staff.

Remember, no matter how long you’ve traveled in the wrong direction, you can always take a u-turn.