Is motivating unmotivated employees up to you?  And further, is this an effective performance management strategy?  Was the unmotivated employee a bad hire or was he/she a top performer and then became unmotivated?

HR is becoming more and more responsible for keeping their employees motivated at work.  But can you really succeed at this in the long run?

There are all kinds of recommendations and solutions to motivate employees such as incentives, coaching, disciplinary action, and counseling.  I’ve read of those who feel that this is a waste of time and money because you cannot motivate the unmotivated for any length of time. Period.  They are very black and white and blame it on a bad hire.  The wrong questions were asked, the employee was adept at interviewing and HR missed the most important aspects of the employee’s personality that would’ve told them this was not going to be a motivated employee; therefore, offering the above listed programs to the employee is throwing good money after bad.  Those with this stance also state that to increase performance management you need to cut ties quickly and stop taking responsibility for an employee’s lack of motivation.  By providing assistance you are giving the employee a scapegoat and he/she can now blame you for being unmotivated.  Admit it was a square peg/ round hole scenario, fire them and move on.  High performers always perform and don’t need to be motivated – they are motivated from within.

Can it really be that simple?  Is it that cut and dried?  I think there is a more effective path to performance management.  The first thing necessary is getting an understanding of why this employee lacks motivation.  Was he/she like this from day one?  (If yes, maybe the above isn’t so far off and you should reevaluate your hiring practices.)  If not, what happened?  Is there a problem with the team or manager?  Are there personal issues?  Has the employee exceeded expectations but received very little in the way of acknowledgement?  Have you provided support for the employee both professionally and personally?

Yes, high performers tend to be motivated from within and perform well despite all kinds of circumstances.  But that doesn’t mean a high performer can’t become de-motivated, and is not worth the time or energy to motivate.  Performance management tools are valuable. At a minimum they allow you to communicate with your employees, which ultimately helps determine the answers to most employee problems.  As I’ve said before, if you will listen, people will tell you what they want.

Those who are internally motivated can still become less so if the culture, environment and support are not there.  The best HR can do is focus on creating an environment that will optimize performance.  The level to which it succeeds is largely up to the employee, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother or are wasting money.