One of the most difficult things to do as a manager is to deal with an employee who just isn’t feeling it and remains unmotivated for a long period of time. Everyone has their days when they’d rather be anywhere else but at work, but what do you do when a direct report consistently fails to bring energy and enthusiasm to their work?
I’m going to focus here on working with someone who was working well at one point, but has since checked out. (Someone who never engages with their work may be a dud or a poor fit to your organization.) A lot of what you need to do depends on why the employee has disengaged. Your first job is to figure out what is going on. After that, you can try to deal with the problem.
Maybe it’s not about work
Your first assumption is probably that there is something about the workplace that is bothering your supervisee. That shouldn’t be the first place you go, though. Instead, start by finding out whether everything is okay with your employee in general. Often, someone appears checked out at work, because they’re dealing with a difficult situation elsewhere in their lives—perhaps a sick relative, financial problems, or a significant home repair looming.
Approach your supervisee and tell them that you have noticed that they seem distracted. Ask them if they would be willing to talk about what’s going on. They may very well discuss work-related issues, but this framing gives them the option to talk about issues going on in their personal life. Even if they don’t want to elaborate on it, they may just say that there is something going on at home or outside of work.
In the short-term, ask if there is anything you can do and be sympathetic and supportive. For an issue with a limited time horizon, you might shift assignments around to give your employee some space and time to deal with the issue at hand.
However, if your supervisee mentions something happening outside of work that is significant and potentially long-term, you also need to ensure that the work that must get done can be completed. If you work for a larger organization, you may have an Employee Assistance Program through Human Resources that can help with this situation. In smaller companies, you may have to find a solution in collaboration with other members of the leadership of the organization and human resources to ensure continuity of work during a difficult time for your employee.
Values or goals are diverging
A common cause of disengagement is a breakdown in trust between an employee and the company. When your supervisee has concerns about the company, that often reflects a conflict in values or goals.
As I have written about before, values are deeply held beliefs that drive what a person considers to be important. When a person feels like their personal values conflict with those of the company, it is a natural reaction to pull back from their work, because their engagement feels like an acquiescence to activities that violate their personal beliefs.
A related situation happens when there is a goal conflict. For example, an employee may feel like they are overdue for a promotion, while the organization has different plans. Because the organization and the individual want different things, it is also typical for people to disengage from work.
Encourage your supervisee to discuss the situation with you. Sometimes it is enough for someone to express their concern over a goal or values conflict and to feel heard and understood. You may also be able to shift someone’s responsibilities to remove a values conflict or provide them with guidance about how to align their goals (e.g., a promotion) with what the organization wants.
At times, you may also want to encourage an employee to consider looking for other opportunities. The best resolution to a problem with a supervisee is not always that the person remains happily employed at your firm. Sometimes, the best option is for someone to find a place to work that better aligns with their values or goals.
Anger or frustration
Sometimes the problem is you (or someone else) or someone or something else specific that is serving as an obstacle to an employee. When you face a barrier that you feel you can’t do anything about, it tends to lead to anger or frustration (emotions that are often difficult for people to tell apart).
When you are talking with an employee, be on the lookout for evidence that someone or something about the workplace is causing a problem. For good reason, we discourage people from getting so angry or frustrated at work that they lose control of their emotions and yell at others. If the source of anger or frustration remains in the workplace (and remains a barrier), then the best way to curtail the strong emotional response to the problem is to disengage. If you don’t care about work, then you don’t get a strong emotional reaction to it.
If you can work with your supervisee to identify the barrier (even if you are perceived as the barrier), then you can begin a process of figuring out how to fix the problem. You may need to mediate a conversation among colleagues to help them work out differences. If you find yourself with an intractable conflict with a supervisee, you should consider bringing in a neutral third party to help you talk. If there is a workplace structure or process that is creating a barrier for your supervisee, you can help them to reframe the work they are doing (or suggest alternative processes) that get around the barrier.
The aim of this problem-solving exercise is ultimately to reduce the frustration your colleague is feeling so that they feel like they can re-engage themselves in the work. Even after you clear the barrier, it can sometimes take people a week or two to recover and commit to their work, but if you fix the underlying problem, you should ultimately see your colleague’s energy levels returning to their previous heights.
