Could This Be The Root of Your Work Demotivation Problem?

Everyone wants to stay on top of their game, but sometimes we need to step back and look for the signs of what is truly slowing us down.

Must be something in the air… or is it? You might need to look into this other aspect that is often overlooked even from the early stage of employment.

Your job design.

There are generally two categories of job design: one that requires a highly specialised function, and one with a broad range of responsibilities. Basically, it’s whether you need to excel in one specific skill to deliver a great outcome, or your job requires you to be good at different sets of skills.

When you prefer to focus on one skill but your job needs you to be able to master a few different skills or vice versa, this mismatch could lead to demotivation at work. You might feel like you can handle the work at first, but as time goes by you’ll realise that the way the job is designed is not exactly for you.

Job design is usually created based on the organisational structure of a company. If it is mainly based on functions, employees tend to have a limited sense of responsibility resulting in a low level of work authority. If the company is big on divisions, squads, or tribes, the job will most likely involve teamwork and further expose employees to varying challenges.

At the end of the day, there is no one size fits all to determine the best job design. It all comes down to you, and how you would like to progress with your career.

Being aware of the root of your demotivation problem is the first step to getting your motivation level up. If it turns out that your current job design is not the right fit for your growth, you might want to discuss with HR about it.

There is always an opportunity to grow, even when it looks like a culprit at first glance.