A 2013 article in Forbes touched on ways to promote employee motivation that should be familiar to managers who are concerned about that issue. However it also lists some ways that managers can "demotivate" their people. It goes without saying that managers should avoid doing the following: The first thing that a manager can do to demotivate their people is to use their power to show they do not respect them. Ways that this is done include being chronically late for meetings, never taking their suggestions seriously, and never returning their messages and phone calls. Next a manager can take credit for something that one or more of their people did the most work on. This is certain to demoralize them and not give them an incentive to perform. Then a manager can lose his or her temper. Getting yelled at is a sure motivation killer. And then a manager can fail to back up their people when they are under attack, either by another employee or by the organization itself. This is particularly true if the attack lacks merit and is just office politics. Finally, the manager can be stingy in giving praise when it is deserved. While monetary and other incentives are well and good for giving incentive for performance, a good pat on the back is often appreciated. Withholding praise, conversely, is a good incentive killer. The main take away from this is that a good manager is not only proactive in trying to motive his or her people, but also is watchful for any behavior that might decrease such motivation For more information contact us.