Employee Lost Motivation? How Managers Should Respond

Four kinds of change to identify first when an employee's motivation drops

When you sense that a team member's motivation (their drive, their energy for the work) has dropped, start by figuring out what changed before you try to encourage them. This page sorts the possible changes into four kinds: the work itself, evaluation or how others see them, their relationship with you, and something outside work. Whether listening is the right response, or whether you should listen and then share your own view, depends on which of the four it is.

"Their motivation dropped" is what you see as a manager. It is not the reason itself. If they used to answer delivery-date questions the same day and now more often answer the next day, or they no longer bring up orders at risk of running late in the morning meeting, it is natural to assume something changed before that. But managers are busy too, and days easily slip by while you think "They'll bounce back eventually."

The clues in the table are only a guide. Several changes may overlap. Make your best guess, ask, and if it turns out to be wrong, consider another possibility.

The first thing to say when you sense their motivation has dropped

In your first words, don't use words like "drive" or "motivation." Tell them the fact you noticed and when it started.

In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, 25.2% named "To maintain or improve my condition and motivation" as a reason they have meetings with their manager (up to five answers). Only 9.4% named it as their main reason. Also, 9.7% named "I can't bring up what I want to or should talk about" as a problem with their meetings.

We recommend reaching out yourself once you notice a change, rather than waiting for them to come to you. Avoid places where others can overhear. In a week when you can't book a meeting room, it often helps to raise it at the start of your next 1-on-1.

Once you know when it started, offer a few possibilities for what changed. Choosing from options is easier than answering "Why?"

The relationship between a manager and a team member goes through stages, and the right approach changes with the stage. The same words land differently when they are still on guard than when they can raise problems before they pile up. If you haven't been working together long, it is fine for some conversations to end like this, without trying to get to the reason.

How to respond depending on why their motivation dropped

What you can do depends on what changed. Based on its experience supporting more than 3 million 1-on-1s and its survey of 10,000 employees, KAKEAI believes it is better not to settle on a single way of responding in advance, such as "listen first," when a team member's motivation drops.

When the work itself changed

This covers cases like taking on more responsibilities, a change of clients, or doing the same work for a long time. First, try to understand what they are struggling with and what they want. Then sort out the work they are carrying and think it through together, seriously.

In 300,000 1-on-1 sessions extracted from the usage data of Kakeai AI 1on1, KAKEAI's service that supports 1-on-1 meetings, employees chose "I want us to think it through together" for 17.0% of the "Work progress and how to proceed" themes chosen before a 1-on-1. That was the most common of the options for what they wanted from their manager (the five excluding "Other"). "I want you to listen" was 7.5%. On this theme, people more often want their manager to think it through with them than to just listen.

When evaluation or how others see them changed

This covers cases where they changed after a performance review, after being corrected in a meeting, or after a coworker was handed a big project first. You don't have to save talk about evaluation for the review meeting. It is fine to bring it up in regular meetings.

In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, 9.3% named "I can't speak honestly because I worry about how it affects my evaluation or how I'm seen" as a problem with their meetings. Meanwhile, comparing people who meet their manager every two weeks to once a month, 37.4% of those who discuss performance evaluations in their meetings felt the meetings led to results. Among those who don't discuss evaluations, it was 30.8%. At other meeting frequencies too, people who discuss evaluations were more likely to feel their meetings led to results.

If they changed after a review, don't wait for them to bring it up. Suggest looking at the evaluation sheet together yourself.

When their relationship with you changed

This may be hard to hear. If they still talk with coworkers but come to you less, start by looking at your own side. Look back on three things: promises you haven't kept, how you've been speaking lately, and how closely you've been instructing and checking.

In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, 12.9% named "My manager's response isn't what I hoped for" as a problem with their meetings, and 6.2% named "My manager doesn't act on what we discussed or doesn't keep promises." Among those who named "My manager's response isn't what I hoped for," 23.4% felt their meetings led to results. Among those who named "My manager doesn't act on what we discussed or doesn't keep promises," it was 23.2%. Both are below the 31.9% of all respondents.

If something comes to mind, bring it up yourself.

When something outside work changed

This means changes in family circumstances, health, personal life, and so on. Don't try to ask for details. Start by listening. It is fine if the conversation ends with just listening. What you can adjust is the work side: the amount, the deadlines, and the order.

In Kakeai AI 1on1 usage data, for the theme "Private life," 21.8% of employees chose "I want you to listen" as what they wanted from their manager. That was the most common of the five options excluding "Other." "I want specific advice" was 3.9%. For the theme "Physical and mental condition" too, the most common was "I want you to listen," at 17.4%. On both themes, people more often want their manager to listen than to give advice. Note, though, that for 40.9% of "Physical and mental condition" themes, nothing was chosen for what they wanted from their manager.

Avoid judging the cause of any health issue yourself. Don't say "You're just tired" or "Aren't you sick?" If you are concerned about their health, suggest they talk to your occupational health contact or a medical professional. If time off or changes to how they work are involved, check your company's employment policies and talk with HR.

What to avoid when an employee's motivation drops

• Waiting and watching until they come to you. If you just say "Let me know if anything comes up" and wait, changes outside work are unlikely to come up. In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, 22.9% said they talk about "physical and mental condition" in meetings with their manager, and 16.4% talk about "private life." Compared with 76.7% for "specific work," few people talk about things outside work in their regular meetings.
• Encouraging, praising, or inviting them to dinner before you know what's going on. Encouragement leaves the extra responsibilities and the unkept promises exactly where they were.
• Holding back on talking about work. Some advice says "Don't talk about work in meetings with an employee whose motivation is low," but KAKEAI does not recommend avoiding work topics. Three of the four kinds of change are about work, and if you don't talk about work, you won't find what you can adjust.
• Reducing their work without asking them. If you take responsibilities away without a word, they may take it as "They don't expect anything from me anymore." It often helps to decide together, after hearing what they think, whether to reduce their work.
• Deciding in advance to "just listen." Some advice says "The manager should only listen," but KAKEAI does not recommend deciding that ahead of time. Sometimes listening is right, and sometimes sharing your view is right. Piling on advice before you know what's going on is just as much to be avoided.

How to tell whether their motivation has come back

Judge whether their motivation has come back not by their expression or mood, but by whether the facts that first caught your attention have changed. Within two to three weeks after the conversation, look back on these three points.

• Did you do what you took on (explaining to the sales team, talking with the factory manager) by the date you promised?
• How have the facts that first caught your attention (delivery-date answers, what they say in the morning meeting) changed since?
• For any of the four kinds of change, are the two of you able to talk about it more than before?

In Kakeai AI 1on1 usage data, among sessions where employees sent feedback after the 1-on-1, "I feel motivated" was chosen in 11.3% (multiple choices allowed). That shows how hard it is for a single conversation to restore someone's motivation.

Don't try to solve it in one meeting. It often works better to take two or three meetings and watch whether the facts change. If nothing changes, the reason may be a different one of the four, so ask again. If the reason is outside work, there is no need to rush even if you don't see changes right away.