Führung: „Motivation lässt sich erstaunlich effektiv zerstören“

Fifty percent of Germans claim their job is the main source of frustration in their lives. Organizational researcher Hans Rusinek discusses in his new book "Reclaim Work" why this is the case: leaders must create a work environment that restores hope for their people. However, each individual can also boost their own motivation with a few tricks.

Rusinek explains how to do so in an interview. He notes that less than half of Germans give their best at work. While the need for more economic performance is obvious, it's unclear whether it's due to people's behavior or the conditions that prevent them from striving harder. Rusinek believes that we should repair work itself rather than the workers.

He suggests that politics can incentivize people to work harder by ensuring work is more rewarding. This includes questioning why work income is taxed more heavily than capital gains or inheritances. In sociology, this is called a "comfortable problem." A comfortable problem is one that pulls someone out of responsibility. This exists in organizations too.

When chief executives complain about the lack of effort from Generation Z, they should ask themselves how they can become more attractive to job seekers. Rusinek explains that no one starts their career disinterested. He conducted 27 interviews with people in the workforce for his book and found "hope killers" that systematically demotivate people.

He defines a hope killer as anything that systematically discourages people from believing their work can make a difference. Leaders can become hope killers because they have direct access to power. They can either empower people or intimidate them. People go to work for the product, the purpose, or the money, but often it's because of their supervisors.

For example, a manager in the aviation industry introduced a more sustainable product to his boss, but the boss blocked the idea and instead advertised the company's supposed focus on sustainability. The manager remained for a while but eventually felt his job was meaningless and isolated from his employer, eventually quitting and starting a successful green aviation startup.

Besides leaders, what else demotivates people? Performance: What kind of performance is demanded and rewarded? In most companies, it's not about doing the best work but the most visible work. This is called "performative work," which means constantly sitting in meetings or appearing busy. If someone spends three hours in a secluded office concentrating on work, they may be suspected of something.

During crises, many companies increase their focus on presence and control, which intensifies the problem. Research on the "threat-rigidity effect" shows that when companies downsize, many employees respond with even more performative work: more meetings and increased visibility to avoid negative attention. At the same time, tolerance for criticism often decreases both in leadership and within teams.

In times of threat, organizations need critical voices more than ever. For example, an engineer with the nickname "Doctor No" was highly valued for her critical opinions. However, when her company faced a crisis, her critical nature became a problem. During crises, groups outside the organization become more intolerant of dissenters, radicalizing internally.

This is a crisis in crisis management. Early warning signs for this development include leaders mistaking silence for agreement. Many CEOs and managers don't ask enough questions. Employees may have already deemed their job meaningless and feel indifferent. What should leaders do? They should break the illusion of harmony and ask "What bothers you?"

It's better to have dissatisfied employees who want to change things than those who nod along because they've already been marginalized. While motivation can't be ordered, it can be surprisingly effectively destroyed. The task of leadership is not to constantly re-motivate people but to create conditions where their existing motivation can be translated into effective action.

If a sense of hopelessness spreads in an organization, what can each individual do to avoid catching it? Hope arises not by being ordered to do so, but by creating conditions where people can see the impact of their work and feel a sense of purpose.