What demotivates you at work?

Potential-Monke

In what I thought was a good job is slowly starting to turn into yet another job that I hate. I'm tech support for a IoT device, but on temporary promotion with intentions of it being made permanent this month. I was promoted with another agent, and half of us are in Ireland, the other half in America. The other agent promoted was in America, and it was to make things 'fair' so that there was one promoted on both sides.

But, as was blatantly obvious, she's not able for it. She's not doing half the work I am (and I'm not breaking my balls either, i'm quality over quantity, and they want that for the position I'm in). I know this thanks to stats. I end up having to take nearly all the escalations while, as far as I can tell, she does SFA. I was told today that she's busy 'with other stuff', but I'd love to know what that other stuff is, as she's not doing the job she was hired for.

But the company has a bit of a bad record with dealing with ineptitude. Another agent was not able to handle emails/chats properly, so they put him on calls only. And while he's better at doing the calls, he's still making the same mistakes, which cost the company money and negative reviews.

Other agents were also pulled to do 'other jobs' when they were unable to do the basic one. It seems to be a running trend, instead of getting rid of the crap agents, they give them other jobs to do. Usually easier, less busy, but still getting paid the same.

And this is what demotivates me. Thinking back on every job, the same thing demotivated me in every job, where the wasters get away with it, and the good ones get pulled on small mistakes then. That and a lack of communication from management to agents. I'm so sick of it i'm job hunting again, which is a shame as this company has a fantastic opportunity to become the leader in their field, but terrible management is preventing that.

So what demotivates you?

Dagenham Dave

My manager.

A thoroughly nice guy but absolutely terrible at his job.
On a personal level, I like him and have a lot of time for him.
When it comes to work, he's a disaster. Always struggling, asking for help, constant meltdowns.
I spend most of my time counselling him.

Ficheall

The utter pointlessness of it.

Kitty6277

People who are asshóles. There’s nothing that makes me wanna try less than a customer who gives me shít

Class of 82

Negative peers/co-workers. Absolutely draining if have to deal with them daily.

The type that are always leaving but never leave.

mad muffin

Satan

Bad management.

Two examples from my last "manager"

1. Wrote a white paper on our products PKI. Final document was seventy pages in length and I found several issues that needed to be reported to development. In total took about twenty hours to write due to the issues and finding workarounds for as many as possible. Manager said I should have been able to do it in two hours. When I asked if I could read one of their white papers I was told not to be so smart.

2. Told the whole team during a team meeting, hat we would have to do over time without pay or time in lieu, but they wouldn't be doing any OT as they had family commitments. One of the team brought it up with the next level of management, as they had family commitments also who said there was no reason for anyone to be doing overtime and if there was time in lieu would be given. Manager called another meeting to ask why we were complaining as they never said that we had to do overtime and we all misunderstood.

Ken.

Mod-Moved to Work & Jobs. Read the local charter before posting.

Mister Vain

Entitled millennials that wouldn't work in a convulsion.

Eire Go Brach

Mister Vain wrote: »

Entitled millennials that wouldn't work in a convulsion.

What year where you born?

The Rape of Lucretia

So, so far we have :

- management inconsistency
- lack of professional respect for their manager
- the aimlessness of some civil service jobs
- having poor interpersonal skills
- inability to handle personality differences


Most of the classics in the first half dozen posts !

_Brian

I deal with many volunteer committees at work. God so many have such a sense of entitlement and no idea how to interact with people.

My manager is top class, on his game and a really decent bloke too. Nothing is any bother when you go to him, proper manager.

I have one guy I manage and he just whinges about work all the time. Giving out about simple tasks that while repetitive they are the base of his job, but he goes on and on. When I offer to bring in help he says it’s not needed. Just pure negativity.

Mister Vain

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

What year where you born?

Dublin

kaji

When management show favouritism towards their "buddies".
Being told stuff at the last minute when I should have been told ages beforehand.
Co-workers that are on the same grade as you but act as though they are higher than you.
Lazy coworkers.

Quandary

Seeing lazy people getting away with doing nothing.

When I worked in IT there was a lad who had worked in the company for 20 odd years and he seemed to get lazier every year. Didn't do a stroke and was never seriously pulled up on it. I ended up having to pick up a lot of the slack and it eventually made me so bitter that I left the job.

There's nothing more infuriating than having an integral team member who holds up everybody else because of their laziness and unwillingness to pull their weight. They'll happily let other people carry them when they know they can get away with it.

Potential-Monke

_Brian wrote: »

Just pure negativity.

I fear this is where I am heading. I enjoy my job, but I hate carrying people, or hate having to do the majority of work while others do nothing. And this turns me negative against the job, which we all know can easily spread and next thing the whole place is a pit of depression. There was a buyout recently, and the company we work for was also purchased by a Global leader, so changes are due and hopefully are implemented correctly. I don't know if i can wait too much longer for these changes though, if they come at all.

splinter65

Support staff doing the most basic tasks badly.
Our receptionists have to answer the phone and transfer calls to 4 different extensions. They have to admit customers via a buzzer system. Then tell them to sit down until one of us is free. That is all they have to do. Those two tasks. Nothing else. So when this seems to be too difficult I start to lose interest myself.

Ficheall

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

- the aimlessness of some civil service jobs

My complaint wasn't about the civil service - I'd love a civil service job


Another one, though not from my current role, but a very common complaint from those still at it - being forced to pass students who haven't a fucking clue, because it looks bad for the university if they fail.

byhookorbycrook

Pointless paperwork, meetings for the sake of meetings.

kravmaga

Colleagues who are Jobs worth's, back stabbers, bitching amongst work colleagues, it drains energy

Baby01032012

I hear you OP.

My current role is 18 month contract. As soon as I started I realized they wanted me to do 2 roles. I was covering maternity leave managing a small team as well as looking to cover another role on another team. On top of that no proper systems or processes, no controls and having to fix other people’s **** including my boss. And dealing with clients as those more senior to me couldn’t bother.The **** I’ve gone through in last 12 months. On top of that someone left the team and instead of offering Me the role they’ve just brought someone in who has proved they are totally unsuitable. I handed in notice but took it back as I’m looking at career change in next few months. When I took notice back the director said he didn’t care if I stayed or not. If I left they had no replacement lined up, I’m the most experienced and I’m not overstating it to say if I had left no one would have the knowledge to complete information required by the licensing authority for this business.

touts

The company I'm in will be absolutely destroyed by brexit and senior management seem to be paralysed by it. We've come to the conclusion that they have already decided to shut if it's a hard or even a semi hard brexit and therefore aren't making any alternative plans by expanding into Europe or setting up some operations in the UK to get around customs etc. Then a couple of weeks before Christmas everyone realised they are on the Titanic. It's basically steady as she goes and hope that big iceberg moves first and since then everyone is in a panic looking for the lifeboat that is another job.

Potential-Monke

Ficheall wrote: »

...because it looks bad for the university if they fail.

Really!?

Quandary wrote: »

Seeing lazy people getting away with doing nothing.

When I worked in IT there was a lad who had worked in the company for 20 odd years and he seemed to get lazier every year. Didn't do a stroke and was never seriously pulled up on it. I ended up having to pick up a lot of the slack and it eventually made me so bitter that I left the job.

There's nothing more infuriating than having an integral team member who holds up everybody else because of their laziness and unwillingness to pull their weight. They'll happily let other people carry them when they know they can get away with it.

You just reminded me of our Orders person. He works directly for the client, and is in charge of all ordering in the US and EU. He is asking me questions to things that he should know the answer to. He's terrible at his job, and any issues with orders/the warehouse fall on deaf ears. He seems to be one of the major problems in the ordering side of things, but is still employed. Shockingly bad.

Toobz

I can see the end of the business in the not so distant future.

The fact that I'll have to jump ship and start progressing from the bottom again is disheartening

IvySlayer

When a co-worker never admits to a mistake. They will just throw members of their team under a bus than rather admitting anything. Everyone else is always in the wrong. This individual I work with worked under his dad previously and was clearly a brat cos he points the finger at everyone else and it's getting really annoying!!

When someone is clearly bull****ting about something on their CV. They get a position/wage based on previous said experience and struggle to do it and need your help constantly!

murt101

Seeing less qualified and less experienced co-workers getting same contract value...then a few years later the same pay rise despite them not being a team player and not taking on higher level work. So what's the point in taking on extra responsibilities? Seriously demotivating.

myshirt

If you are white, male, and straight, then back of the queue buddy. Undoubtedly people find that demotivating.

Prominent_Dawg

Moody co workers that expect everyone to be in good form when it suits them

marketty

Ficheall wrote:

The utter pointlessness of it.

That's capitalism baby!

r93kaey5p2izun

Not enough money, listening to people moaning at you about your job in your personal life, and micromanagement. They're the main reasons I changed jobs this year.

Wildly Boaring

Firstly
Those who cannot understand when I book a day off.

Out of office on email.
Work phone off.

I can almost tell who'll call my personal mobile in the morning and Thursday and Friday.

"Just checking cus your work phone is off....."
"Very small one for you...."

(Our personal phones were all put on intranet a while back, gone now)



Secondly
Young fellas who will not read the works requirements.

"Oh should we be doing that...."
"Oh is that in their scope..."

mojesius

I like my job, good salary, company treat you well. The work can be demanding but also nicely challenging. I've had my fair share of **** jobs in **** companies over the years (mainly hospitality), which have made me appreciate this one.

Until you get a few incessant complainers on the team who have strolled out of university into the job and expect everything handed to them on a plate after a few months - 'waaahh I didn't get promoted', 'waahhh the daily job is so repetitive', 'wahhhh why didn't I get that project', 'wahhh I can't handle constructive criticism', 'waahh I have to cc my manager in every email'.

I wish they'd stop hiring entitled brats!

piplip87

We fill out our own time sheets each month and what demotivates me the most lately is management coming down hard on everybody for the few that don't record sick days, don't record holidays and don't keep track of lateness.

We now have designated breaks, so I have to sit for an hour at lunch twiddling my thumbs while my usual 6 ten minute microbreaks are gone. Not a big issue for many but when your used to it the day drags

splinter65

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

Firstly
Those who cannot understand when I book a day off.

Out of office on email.
Work phone off.

I can almost tell who'll call my personal mobile in the morning and Thursday and Friday.

"Just checking cus your work phone is off....."
"Very small one for you...."

(Our personal phones were all put on intranet a while back, gone now)



Secondly
Young fellas who will not read the works requirements.

"Oh should we be doing that...."
"Oh is that in their scope..."

This year I’m not answering my mobile to my administrator on my day off.

beauf

Why some people are always doing something last minute, which it so urgent everything has to be dropped.
But they have never mentioned it previously, and they are on holidays from about 5 sec after they tell you or someone else who tells you.
If someone busts a gut to get the thing done, they then turn around and say its not urgent, or the spec has changed since they last spoke to you.

They then wonder why they can't keep staff on their team or no one wants to help them.

gozunda

Idiots and psychopaths ....

Got my overtime email for December while having coffee before work. Promptly drove home and I'm back in bed.

Not getting paid properly demotivates me.

gar32

Having 18 managers in the last 18 years of working. Just when you thinking one of them can help you get a promo or extra cash they are replaced. Just happened again to me with a good manager after only 4 months.

Teyla Emmagan

Cliques. We have a sort of office manager person who has control over contract renewal etc and she has lined up her little team of joke-laughers and arse-licker buddies around her. They move like a pack. Of 15 year olds, generally off to get tea, or breakfast. And then come back lolling. I would like them to be collectively hit by a car.

myshirt

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Cliques. We have a sort of office manager person who has control over contract renewal etc and she has lined up her little team of joke-laughers and arse-licker buddies around her. They move like a pack. Of 15 year olds, generally off to get tea, or breakfast. And then come back lolling. I would like them to be collectively hit by a car.

Jesus man.

killanena

Things have been turning around where I work in the past year, new manager who raised through the ranks that actually understands what the jobs below him are like and how they work, gives proper recognition and most importantly of all he doesn't melt down, if he has a problem a quite friendly chat outlining what needs to change.

Its crazy how much of a difference a good manager can make because 2 years ago I hated my job and was on the verge of handing in my notice.

But something that still demotivate me is being paid wrong more often then not and having to chase payroll over it.. I submit my own hours (correctly) so I don't see how they keep getting it wrong..

Wildly Boaring

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Cliques. We have a sort of office manager person who has control over contract renewal etc and she has lined up her little team of joke-laughers and arse-licker buddies around her. They move like a pack. Of 15 year olds, generally off to get tea, or breakfast. And then come back lolling. I would like them to be collectively hit by a car.

We have an office administrator who has control over seating and biros.

Even she has a little clique.

I **** you not, her buddies get permanent desks while the rest of us use "agile working" . ie Have no desk.

Probably worth laughing at her jokes....

billyhead

Lack of work and training for any given work and also micro management are my pet hates in a job.

Aglomerado

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Cliques. We have a sort of office manager person who has control over contract renewal etc and she has lined up her little team of joke-laughers and arse-licker buddies around her. They move like a pack. Of 15 year olds, generally off to get tea, or breakfast. And then come back lolling. I would like them to be collectively hit by a car.

I worked in the midst of a clique in my last civil service job. Individually, all lovely decent people but once they were together they were greater (and louder) than the sum of their parts.

They used to meet outside of work, go to each other's houses etc Which is all very nice but when all of these plans are being discussed within earshot when you're trying to get your work done it's a headf*ck. Noise cancelling headphones didn't work.

I had a word with my HEO (not part of the clique) about the noise and possibly getting a desk away from it, but the HEO told me a re-jig of work units was on the cards and people would be moving around soon enough anyway.

I stuck it out for a couple of months and was really motivated for a promotion interview....I'm a HEO now myself in a lovely quiet spot... patience helped!

Mister Vain

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Pointless paperwork, meetings for the sake of meetings.

This. Most meetings I have been to were pointless. A quick word on site would have sufficed.

Manach

A progressive HR Department. They take their lead from the US and have not met a diversity cause they do not wish to champion.

tastyt

People at work who act like they are so important and the work that we do is major, wer not saving babies here and they would replace you in 2 minutes you gob****e.

Basically people who take their jobs way too seriously and think the office is the centre of the universe and eveyone else should feel the same.

By all means do your job diligently and work hard, but remember to work to live, you wont regret some paperwork or days off you took when your on your deathbed.

And lastly, always always remember, especially if your in a big company that you are just a number and you mean nothing to them, despite what you might like to convince yourself of.

Start worrying about how you can spend time with the people you love outside of work, doing the things you love.

OMM 0000

I currently work in a company with no sales team. So there is no one making sales for the product we make.

This has been dragging on for 36 months.

Our owner is super rich, so I don't think he cares, but I've managed the development of 3 products so far, and we've never really tried to sell any of them.

I'm beginning to think what am I doing... (I've been thinking this for a while, but it's becoming comical now).

Ohmeha

Cleaning up my (significantly better paid and apparently more experienced) colleagues repeated f-k ups

Eric Cartman

Women over 40 who will not accept that they made a mistake or could be wrong. Lets be honest, its a demographic with pretty low computer literacy anyway but id say 80% of the tickets that group generates are completely their own fault and nothing to do with the computer , yet they always demand to know why it happened, and by christ if youre honest and tell them it was their fault then thats it , everyone will hear how rude you were and how incompetent you were etc...
And even worse if something changes, an icon moves or a new version of the software moves any button or option or changes the icon and its 'but it wasnt like this before' 'it used to be this way' 'i want the old one back'

Now im sure there are people in different groups that do it too, but universally in IT if you see the ticket is from a woman over 40 , you can just prepare for the trouble its going to be.

SirChenjin

Control freakery/ micro management coupled with a totally opposite/ complete hands off approach when there is an actual issue. Very difficult to deal with.
That and people who bring their moods into work.

(And that's just one person, I'm talking about :rolleyes:)